Los Angeles - The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced on Monday a new deal with ESPN (NYSE: DIS) for the cable TV broadcast and digital rights to the US Open grand slam tennis tournament, ending its 25-year deal with USA Network. The six-year pact, which begins in 2009 and was worth nearly $140, according to the Wall Street Journal, will see ESPN offer 200 hours of US Open coverage. ESPN will also offer live feeds on the ESPN360 broadband service, comprehensive coverage on ESPN.com, and various content on ESPN Mobile.

Basking Ridge, N.J. - Verizon Wireless announced on Friday that Viacom's MTV Tr3s and Disney's ESPN Radio have launched mobile TV channels exclusively for its V CAST Mobile TV service. The company also launched MySpace Mobile, and mobile sites for Viacom's MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and CMT for subscribers to its "Mobile Web 2.0" service.

New York - Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ESPN plans to make its live sporting event broadband video service, ESPN360, free to access to anyone on college campuses or military bases who sign up from an .edu or .mil domain, The New York Times reports. Currently, ESPN360 is only available to subscribers with ISPs who have made deals with ESPN to offer the service, which includes some 20 million broadband customers of AT&T, Verizon, Charter and others. The Times reports that ESPN360 has served just 500,000 viewing hours since last September.

Washington - XM Satellite Radio (NASD: XMSR) said on Thursday that it has reached a deal with the Chicago-based Content Factory to carry Dan Patrick's national sports radio show starting on Jan. 21. "The Dan Patrick Show" on XM Sports Nation (channel 144) will air weekdays from 10-noon ET. Patrick, a former anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter program, premiered his new syndicated radio show in October.

New York - Sirius Satellite Radio (NASD: SIRI) announced on Wednesday that it has signed a multi-year extension to its agreement with ESPN (NYSE: DIS), that will bring "SportsCenter," "College GameDay" and other ESPN shows to national radio for the first time. The deal will also see the creation of "ESPN The Magazine on Sirius," a weekly program that will feature writers and editors examining the sports news stories of the week and conducting interviews.

Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) on Monday announced an agreement with Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ESPN, to add HD and standard-definition games, TV shows and video game programming to the Xbox Live online games and entertainment network for the Xbox 360. Included in the deal will be full-length NCAA college football and basketball games, Summer X Games 13 coverage, and episodes of ESPN series such as "World Series of Poker," "The Contender" and "Madden Nation."

New York - Ratings provider Nielsen and Disney's ESPN cable network on Wednesday announced a collaboration to measure how consumers use media across platforms including TV, the Internet and mobile devices. ESPN's signal is available in 93 million homes, and its website attracts 18 million monthly visitors. The new measurements will include data from Nielsen's TV/Internet Convergence Panel -- which measures TV and Internet use within the same home -- as well as from Nielsen Mobile and other sources.

Wayne, Pa. - The founder of cable TV sports network ESPN, Bill Rasmussen, on Friday announced the launch of CollegeFanz.com, a site that will feature social networking, traditional sports content, group voice chat and user-generated online radio shows. The site will cover all 32 NCAA college sports for Divisions I, II and III. "In 1979, satellite technology created an opportunity for ESPN to deliver sports around the clock that created legions of sports fans," said Rasmussen. "Twenty-eight years later, online technology presents the opportunity to deliver yet another layer of sports information and entertainment to millions of passionate fans looking for more scores, more news, more videos and more photos from their favorite college or university." The company has raised an undisclosed sum of funding from backers including The Musser Group.

London - Disney's ESPN cable TV sports network said on Tuesday that it has acquired rugby news site Scrum.com, Reuters reported.

San Diego - Verizon Wireless announced on Thursday that it has teamed with ESPN and Qualcomm's MediaFLO USA unit to create a mobile TV channel for the action sports network EXPN that will include live competitions from the upcoming X Games 13. EXPN on V CAST Mobile TV will feature eight hours of daily live coverage of the X Games, in addition to behind-the-scenes coverage and commentary.

Los Angeles - The National Basketball Association (NBA) this week signed a deal for broadcast rights that for the first time includes online and mobile rights, agreeing to an eight-year, $7.4 billion contract with Walt Disney's ABC and ESPN, and Time Warner's TNT, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Los Angeles - Disney's ESPN on Tuesday announced the launch of the ESPN Arcade, a casual games site created in collaboration with game developer Skyworks. The site will feature free, ad-supported, Flash-based sports, card, puzzle, driving and multiplayer titles.

London - Disney's ESPN sports network has acquired Cricinfo, a website that covers the sport of cricket, from the Wisden Group for an undisclosed sum.

Basking Ridge, N.J. - Verizon Wireless on Wednesday announced the launch of ESPN MVP, a mobile sports application developed by the Disney-owned sports network. Available as part of Verizon's $15 per month V CAST service, the application provides sports news, scores, video, and fantasy team management. ESPN MVP was initially part of Mobile ESPN, a failed virtual mobile network operator eventually shuttered by the company.

New York - Cable TV provider Cox Communications has signed a deal with Disney to offer ABC and ESPN programming on-demand, but with the ability to skip past ads disabled for subscribers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Time Warner Cable also disables the fast-forward button on some of its on-demand programming.

Detroit, Mich. - Gas Station TV, an Internet-based digital TV network at gas station pumps, announced on Monday that Disney's ESPN has added content to its roster of programming. The company previously signed a similar deal with Disney's ABC News and ABC-owned affiliates to provide local news, weather and traffic updates.

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Time Warner Cable announced Barry Rosenblum, an Executive Vice President based in New York, and Stephen Pagano, former Head of Time Warner Cable's Albany, N.Y., division, will replace Roger Keating who was forced out on Wednesday after complaints from customers.
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