LeBron James, MTV2, Comcast, Charter, and Nike Join Forces for 'Nike Battlegrounds: King of the Court'

    NEW YORK, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- MTV2 and Nike are teaming up for the
 biggest season of Nike Battlegrounds ever -- "Nike Battlegrounds: King of the
 Court."  Airing on MTV2 beginning in September, the weekly, popular basketball
 series will be hosted by NBA star LeBron James as the show takes on a new
 twist by focusing on the team aspects of the sport, as opposed to an
 individual 1-on-1 elimination process.  National bragging rights are at stake
 as Nike Battlegrounds documents the search for the best hometown basketball
 players in Chicago and New York, creating two teams that will have an eventual
 face-off in the series finale in the ultimate showdown.  Nike Battlegrounds
 will feature a performance by Grand Hustle recording star T.I., hip-hop's
 self-proclaimed "King of the South," and his song, "Battlegrounds: King of the
 Court," which will serve as the Nike Battlegrounds theme song.
     Comcast ON DEMAND and Charter OnDemand will premiere the Nike
 Battlegrounds preview special exclusively on September 7th and then on MTV2 on
 September 11th at 8pm ET/5pm PT.  The series premiere of Nike Battlegrounds
 will debut on MTV2 Sunday, September 18th at 8pm ET/5pm PT and then on Comcast
 ON DEMAND and Charter OnDemand the following week.  In addition, MTV2.com and
 MTV Overdrive will have all the Nike Battlegrounds episodes on demand from
 your desktop immediately following their premiere on MTV2.
     "With each new season of Nike Battlegrounds, MTV2 and Nike aim to raise
 the level of competition as well as the musical talent involved with the
 show," said Paul DeBenedittis, SVP, Programming, MTV & MTV2.  "This year
 undoubtedly promises to be the best yet.  With hosting duties provided by the
 NBA's brightest superstar, LeBron James, alongside Andre Iguodala and Ben
 Gordon, the NBA's newest rookie standouts, music provided by hip-hop's latest
 heavyweight, T.I., and by partnering with Comcast and Charter, Nike
 Battlegrounds will continue to be the premier destination for fans to check
 out the lifestyle and stories behind some of the country's most competitive
 and passionate basketball players and their raw, competitive desire to be the
 king of the court."
     LeBron James will send two of the hottest NBA rookies back to their
 hometowns to coach the young talent and develop the teams.  New York native
 and the first rookie ever to win the NBA 2004-2005 Sixth Man Award, Ben Gordon
 will return home from his first successful season playing for the Chicago
 Bulls to coach the New York squad.  After thriving in his first season playing
 for the Philadelphia 76'ers, Illinois native Andre Iguodala will lead the
 Chicago team.  The series will follow each team from the earliest selection
 process until the final match-up.  Episodes of Nike Battlegrounds will
 highlight the team as it takes shape through practices, the cities they
 represent, and the courts they grew up on, before the players meet in a
 bragging rights battle to see which city is really king of the court.
     "Today's game goes beyond flashy playground tricks," said Adam Roth,
 Nike's Director of Global Content & Partnerships.  "Basketball is a team sport
 epitomized by the way a guy like LeBron James plays.  For this season's Nike
 Battlegrounds series, we wanted to focus on that 'all for one' theme by
 following the ups and downs of some of Chicago and New York's best young
 ballers as they work hard to come together to represent their respective
 cities.  Given Chicago and New York's historic hoops rivalry, it's a challenge
 that both Ben (Gordon) and Andre (Iguodala) take very personally as well."
     The partnership between MTV and Nike began in 2003 when MTV chronicled
 Nike's Battlegrounds tournament, showcasing the best street ball players in
 New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Toronto.  The
 special aired in September of 2003 and is currently available on DVD
 nationwide.  Last year's season of Nike Battlegrounds took the series
 international as it focused on one-on-one street battles between players from
 Paris, Chicago, Germany, Los Angeles, Italy, Philadelphia, Barcelona, and New
 York in order to find the true street ball "King of the World."
     Nike Battlegrounds is a Nike, Wieden + Kennedy Entertainment and
 @radical.media production in partnership with MTV2.
     With the evolution of MTV2 in 2005, the channel continues to deliver the
 hottest mix of music videos, music long form programs, and cross platform
 programming.  The ongoing strength of MTV2's signature music blocks is further
 exemplified by the hip-hop powerhouse, "Sucker Free Sundays," which has grown
 17% among P12-34 and 52% among Teens vs. last year.  MTV2's success with music
 continues with shows such as the $2 Bill concert series, Video Mods,
 Playlistism, and Discover and Download.  The first full season of the Sic 'Em
 Friday programming block which consisted of "WildBoyz," "Wonder Showzen,"
 "Team Sanchez" and "Damage Control", was seen by over 26 million viewers.
     For more info check out: http://www.mtv2.com, and for more info on
 Overdrive check out: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive.
 
     About Comcast
     Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq:   CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is the
 nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products
 and services.  With 21.5 million cable customers, 7.7 million high-speed
 Internet customers, and 1.2 million voice customers, Comcast is principally
 involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable
 networks and in the delivery of programming content.
     The Company's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment
 Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, Outdoor Life Network, G4, AZN
 Television, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional Comcast SportsNets.  The
 Company also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major
 holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia
 76'ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.
 Comcast Class A common stock and Class A Special common stock trade on The
 Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbols CMCSA and CMCSK, respectively.
 
     About Charter Communications
     Charter Communications, Inc., a broadband communications company, provides
 a full range of advanced broadband services to the home, including cable
 television on an advanced digital video programming platform via Charter
 Digital(TM), Charter High-Speed(TM) Internet service and Charter
 Telephone(TM).  Charter Business(TM) provides scalable, tailored and
 cost-effective broadband communications solutions to organizations of all
 sizes through business-to-business Internet, data networking, video and music
 services.  Advertising sales and production services are sold under the
 Charter Media(R) brand.  More information about Charter can be found at
 http://www.charter.com.
 
     About NIKE
     NIKE, Inc. based in Beaverton, Oregon is the world's leading designer,
 marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment
 and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities.  Wholly
 owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc., which designs, markets and
 distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Bauer NIKE Hockey
 Inc., a leading designer and distributor of hockey equipment; Cole Haan(R),
 which designs, markets, and distributes fine dress and casual shoes and
 accessories; and Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and
 distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and
 accessories.
 
     About MTV Networks
     MTV Networks owns and operates the cable television programming services
 MTV: Music Television, MTV2, mtvU, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1,
 CMT: Country Music Television, Comedy Central, and Spike TV, as well as The
 Digital Suite from MTV Networks, a package of thirteen digital services, all
 of which are trademarks of MTV Networks.  MTV Networks also operates and
 offers joint ventures, licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its
 programming can be seen worldwide.
 
 

SOURCE  MTV2