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RCN Corporation: RCN Adds SKY TG24, the 24 Hour All-News Italian Channel, to Its Global Passport Tier of International Programm

^{Published on 2009-06-11 12:56:40, Last Modified on 2009-06-11 12:57:49 - Market Wire}
 

HERNDON, VA--(Marketwire - June 11, 2009) - RCN Corporation (NASDAQ: [ RCNI ]), a leading provider of [ all-digital ] and [ high definition video ][ , high-speed internet ], and premium voice services to residential and small-medium business customers, as well as high-capacity transport services to carrier and large enterprise customers, announced that it has launched SKY TG24, the 24 hour all-news channel of the SKY Italia multi-channel direct-to-home (DTH) pay TV platform.

Headquartered in Rome, SKY TG24 was launched in 2003 by News Corporation and now has more than 4.8 million subscribers. With a staff of 140 journalists, ten regional bureaus in Italy, each with its own satellite uplink truck and its collaboration with an additional 30 local television channels, SKY TG24 is consistently first on breaking news in Italy. SKY TG24 has bureaus in New York, Paris, London, Brussels, Jerusalem, and Tokyo and correspondents in Madrid, Moscow, Beijing and Rio de Janeiro.

"SKY TG24 is the winner of the Best Italian News Service Award in 2007 and 2009. It has established a unique position in the strongly partisan Italian media, being repeatedly hailed, on the record, as politically neutral by both government and opposition leaders. As such, it has rapidly become the trusted source of news in Italy," said SKY TG24 director of Business Affairs Ed Brunetti.

In addition to covering breaking news, SKY TG24 reports on the latest in sports and weather. SKY TG24 also updates views on financial markets 16 times a day, on the hour, starting with coverage of Asian markets from Tokyo, and ending with live coverage of the Wall Street closing bell. Every weeknight, it also broadcasts SKY TG24 "Economia," a program focusing on business, the economy and consumer issues.

SKY TG24 "Pomeriggio" is a daily afternoon talk show which covers everything from gossip and entertainment to hard news. On the lighter side, SKY TG24 has two major daily updates on fashion, art, design and entertainment and covers major entertainment events such as the Oscars, the Venice and Rome film festivals and the "Sanremo" song festival with its own correspondents.

"We're pleased to add SKY TG24, our second Italian channel, to Global Passport, our expanding International tier. We currently offer RAITALIA, one of the most respected broadcasters in Europe. We're excited about the launch of SKY, as it's a great complement to RAITALIA. We will be offering a RAI/SKY bundle to all customers," said RCN Senior Vice President, Strategic External Affairs, Programming and International Marketing Richard Ramlall. "We're offering a free preview running through July 5th on Channel 508, so potential subscribers can see what outstanding news and programs SKY TG24 delivers."

RCN's Global Passport now offers 500 International cable television choices, including 82 linear channels, covering 14 different language groups, surpassing many other cable and telecom offerings today. To subscribe to the SKY TG24 channel on RCN, customers can call 1-800-RING-RCN (1-800-746-4726).

About RCN Corporation

RCN Corporation (NASDAQ: [ RCNI ]), [ http://www.rcn.com ], is a competitive broadband services provider delivering all-digital and high definition video, high-speed internet and premium voice services to residential and small-medium business customers under the brand names of RCN and RCN Business Services, respectively. In addition, through its RCN Metro Optical Networks business unit, RCN delivers fiber-based high-capacity data transport services to large commercial customers, primarily large enterprises and carriers, targeting the metropolitan central business districts in the company's geographic markets. RCN's primary service areas include Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley (PA), New York City, Boston and Chicago. (RCNI-G)