Zug/Bern, Switzerland, 18 March 2011 – Infront Sports & Media, Swiss-Ski and the Swiss public broadcaster SRG SSR have renewed their successful triangular partnership, covering the production, broadcast and marketing of the FIS World Cup events in Switzerland. The extended agreements cover the FIS disciplines of alpine skiing, ski jumping, cross country, freestyle, ski cross and snowboard and will run to the end of the 2015/16 season.

The following aspects are included:

•    SRG SSR extends the partnership with Swiss-Ski in terms of production and media exploitation. SRG SSR will produce the international TV-signal for all FIS World Cup events taking place in Switzerland in the above mentioned disciplines. In return, it receives from Swiss-Ski the global media rights for the respective events. It will retain the domestic rights for its own radio and television stations as well as for its multimedia platforms.

•    The parallel contractual agreement between SRG SSR and Infront licenses the international media rights to the FIS World Cup events taking place in Switzerland to Infront. In return, SRG SSR receives the right to broadcast the international FIS World Cup races on its radio and TV channels as well as on its multimedia platforms. In alpine skiing, the rights package includes up to 50 races per season.

The parties agreed to keep financial and contractual details confidential.

Urs Leutert, Head of Business Unit Sport SRG / SRF Sport: “We are delighted that we will be continuing this long-standing, historically grown partnership with Swiss-Ski and the national World Cup event organisers. Together with the diverse, internationally-oriented rights package provided by our partner Infront, we will – also during the next five years - be able to provide the SRG SSR audience with the premium product winter sport in the proven way. The coverage on three of our media platforms underlines the public service character of our programming.”

Urs Lehmann, President Swiss-Ski, added: “The partnership is very valuable for Swiss-Ski and we are delighted about the prolongation of this constructive collaboration. It is fantastic having the comfort knowing our partner is setting the highest international standards in winter sports production, while also delivering an attractive media platform for our sports throughout Switzerland. In addition, our partnership with Infront is also built on trust and reliability. Overall, this is an ideal match as all organisations complement each other.”

Bruno Marty, Infront’s Executive Director Winter Sports, said: “The agreement with Swiss-Ski and the SRG SSR is a major cornerstone for the long-term success of Infront’s collective marketing approach for the majority of the FIS World Cups. Top events as the Lauberhorn race or the events in Engelberg and St. Moritz are must-haves for both broadcasters and brands worldwide. A strong consistency in terms of media coverage and sponsorship programmes leads to an increased marketing value and eventually contributes to the sustained international success of Swiss FIS World Cup events.”

For further information, please contact:

Infront Sports & Media AG
Jörg Polzer
Associate Director Corporate Communications
Tel. 079 772 25 48
press infrontsports.com
www.infrontsports.com

SRG SSR
Peter Küchler
Media Relations
Tel. 079 479 97 81

Swiss-Ski
Lorenz Liechti Torre
Head of Communication
Tel. 079 370 95 80