Rebecca Lowe Named Host of NBC Sports Group's PREMIER LEAGUE

Rebecca Lowe, who currently serves as co-host of ESPN UK's coverage of Premier League soccer, has signed a multi-year agreement with NBC Sports Group to serve as its host of the Premier League beginning in August, it was announced today.

Lowe will relocate to the U.S. this summer, and will host Premier League coverage from NBC Sports Group's new state-of-the-art International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Additional talent announcements for NBC Sports Group's Premier League coverage will be announced at a later date.

"I'm about to begin the most exciting chapter of my life," said Lowe. "Joining NBC to present the Premier League is an enormous privilege. Not only do I get to combine my love of football and of TV presenting, but I'm getting the chance to do that in a new country, which poses a real challenge. I'm impatient for the summer to come, and inspired by NBC's outlook on putting live football on the telly...as we say in England."

"Rebecca has the perfect combination of soccer knowledge and perspective to lead our viewers through all the drama and excitement of Premier League," said Pierre Moossa, Coordinating Producer, NBC Sports Group Soccer. "When we started the talent search, Rebecca was our top choice as host, and we are extremely fortunate to have her join our team"

Lowe joined ESPN UK in 2009 to co-host its Premier League matches as well as its FA Cup coverage, and co-anchor Between the Lines, a football debate and opinion program. Lowe co-hosted ESPN's coverage of the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2011, in Germany, and its Euro 2012 coverage from Bristol, Conn. In May, 2012, Lowe became the first woman in UK history to host the FA Cup Final - a six-hour live broadcast from Wembley Stadium. Lowe will conclude her Premier League and FA Cup duties with ESPN UK in May.

Prior to her work with ESPN UK, Lowe was a presenter and reporter for Setanta Sports (2007-2009), and a host for Setanta's coverage of the Football Conference. She also co-hosted Football Matters, Setanta's Premier League studio program.

Lowe's sports-television career began when won the 2002 BBC Talent Search for a football reporter, from a field of 650 candidates. While at the BBC - from 2002-2007 - Lowe contributed to the network's soccer programming, including reporting for Final Score from a key Premiership match each Saturday; contributing features and reporting for Football Focus; and presenting a lifestyle feature each Sunday morning on Match of the Day called "Football in the Community."

Additionally, Lowe reported for BBC Two at the 2004 African World Cup of Nations, in Tunisia, and in 2005, was the Team England reporter from the Women's European Championships in Manchester for BBC One. She also covered the FA Women's Cup Final (2003-2007) and the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany for BBC One.

NBCUniversal, via the NBC Sports Group, has acquired the exclusive U.S. media rights to the Premier League through a multi-year agreement that begins with the 2013-14 season. Per the agreement, NBCUniversal becomes the exclusive English- and Spanish-language media rights holder to all 380 Premier League matches across all platforms and devices in the United States.

Each of the 20 Premier League teams plays 38 matches over a 41-week period from August to May. Although specific programming details will be announced soon, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and NBCSports.com will all be utilized to present live Premier League coverage, as well as Telemundo and mun2 for Spanish-language coverage. Additional NBCUniversal platforms and networks will occasionally be scheduled to air Premier League matches, while NBC Sports Live Extra will provide the live streaming platform across web, tablet and mobile devices.

NBC Sports Group will also produce comprehensive shoulder programming around its live-event coverage of the Premier League, including pre- and post-match shows, as well as highlight and weekly wrap-up programs. It is also developing a package to make sure the most avid fans have access to every Premier League match.

-NBC Sports Group-th ahead of ABC's 1.7 rating and +3 tenths more than CBS's 1.5 rating.
Among A25-54 (000), Nightly averaged 2.130 million viewers, +7% (+146,000) viewers ahead of World News' 1.984 million and +20% (+408,000) ahead of Evening News' 1.722 million.
Nightly has topped World News in A25-54 (000) for 226 consecutive weeks.
Versus the same week last season, Nightly was up +1% in total viewers.

Quarter and Season-to-Date Highlights:

Season-to-date, Nightly leads World News by +783,000 total viewers, and by +322,000 Adult 25-54 viewers (+2 tenths).

Patrick Burkey is the executive producer of "NBC Nightly News with BrIan Williams." For more news and information, go to www.nbcnightlynews.com, Facebook.com/NBCNightlyNews, or follow on Twitter @nbcnightlynews.

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