Charter Increases On Demand Choices With Addition of Preschool Channel Sprout

ST. LOUIS, July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Great news for parents and young children in Charter households. Sprout®, the 24-hour preschool television channel developed for children ages 2-5, is now available On Demand for customers with Charter TV in Digital nationwide. Charter will also make Sprout's 24-hour digital cable channel available on a market by market basis by the end of 2010.

"Sprout provides quality programming children love and parents can trust," said Kara Lamberti, Charter's Senior Director of Video. "At Charter, our focus is providing customers with high-quality content and a wide variety of choice and control. Television is an important component of family entertainment, and Charter is making investments to enhance the viewing experience. By adding Sprout to our popular On Demand service, great preschool programming is available whenever it's convenient to watch."

Sprout's On Demand lineup provides 65 hours of programming each month, including 15 hours of Spanish-language programming, and combines trusted, classic shows with fresh and innovative originals. Sesame Street®, Bob the Builder™, Barney & Friends™ and The Wiggles® are just a few of the On Demand choices included on Sprout. From arts and crafts projects and family-friendly, healthy recipes to viewer submitted birthday cards, Sprout inspires family interaction and provides new ways for parents and preschoolers to experience television together.

"We are thrilled to add Charter to Sprout's growing list of distributors," said Sandy Wax, President of Sprout. "This provides us with the opportunity to share the most trusted programs and characters in preschool TV with Charter customers across the country."

Charter's On Demand service is available to all customers with Charter TV in Digital. With more than 6,500 choices, customers have instant access to thousands of free studio movies, children's and family programming, and a wide array of popular cable television programs, special interest programs, documentaries and full-length previews for movies now playing at or coming soon to local theaters.

For more information about Charter's services, including On Demand, visit charter.com or call 1-888-GETCHARTER (1-888-438-2427). For additional information on Sprout programs or schedules, or to play games, download free coloring pages or find great activities for kids, visit SproutOnline.com.

About Charter

Charter Communications®, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CCMM) is a leading communications and entertainment services provider and the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States. Charter provides a full range of advanced services, including Charter TV™, Charter Internet™, and Charter Phone™. Charter Business® similarly provides scalable, tailored, and cost-effective broadband communications solutions to business organizations, such as business-to-business Internet access, wireless backhaul, data networking, video and music entertainment services, and business telephone. Charter Media® will help your business achieve its ambitions with a powerful mix of media, messaging, the newest technologies and in-depth research. More information about Charter can be found at charter.com.

About Sprout®

PBS KIDS Sprout, the first 24-hour preschool destination available on TV, on demand and online for kids ages 2-5 and their parents and caregivers, was created as a partnership among Comcast Corporation, HIT Entertainment, PBS and Sesame Workshop. Since debuting its video on demand (VOD) service in April 2005, Sprout has become the #1 On Demand service for younger children, and is on track to reach one billion orders in 2010. The 24-hour digital channel, which launched in September 2005 along with the website (SproutOnline.com), is the only channel that follows the day of child from breakfast to bedtime with its distinctive programming. Currently, Sprout is available in 50 million unique households.

The network's program lineup of gold-standard, curriculum-based children's shows includes: Sesame Street®, Bob the Builder™, Barney & Friends™, The Wiggles®, Thomas & Friends™, Angelina Ballerina™, Caillou®, The Berenstain Bears™, Dragon Tales™, Make Way For Noddy™, Fireman Sam™, Fifi and the Flowertots™, dirtgirlworld and more.

SOURCE Charter Communications