POSTED: Thursday February 5th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SKATING STARS PERFORM WITH KENNY G IN SKATE FOR THE HEART THIS SATURDAY ON NBC

Weekend Programming Also Includes World Skiing Championships

       New York- Feb. 5, 2009 - NBC Sports Presents Amway Global Skate for the Heart this Saturday at 4-6 p.m. ET from The Nutter Center in Dayton, OH. World-renowned saxophonist Kenny G headlines an evening of smooth jazz with Olympic and world-class skaters in a show that provides awareness for the prevention of heart disease.

Skating to Kenny G\‘s music are reigning World Champion Jeffrey Buttle, two-time Olympic gold medalist Ekaterina Gordeeva, 1992 Olympic gold medalist Viktor Petrenko, 2003 World Ice Dancing Champion Shae-Lynn Bourne and two-time Olympic silver medalist and two-time World champions Irina Slutskaya.

WORLD SKIING CHAMPIONSHIP, SATURDAY, 2 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, 3 P.M. ET
NBC Sports presents the 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, where the best skiers from around the world will compete in Val d\‘lsere, France. France last hosted the World Championship, the biggest ski event after the Olympics, almost 5 decades ago. The two-week long competition consists of eleven events, with more than 500 participants from over 60 different nations.

NBC will broadcast coverage of the men\‘s downhill and women\‘s super-G races Saturday, 2-3 p.m. ET, and the women\‘s downhill and men\‘s super-G races Sunday, 3-4:30 p.m. ET.  A two-hour highlight show featuring all of the World Championship events will be broadcast Sun., Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. ET.

This year the two racing slopes will be directly opposite each other, as the men challenge the Face de Bellevarde course and the women, the Rhone Alpes course on the Solaise mountain. The competition will begin with both the men\‘s and ladies super-G, where reigning super-G champions, Anja Parson (Sweden) and Patrick Staudacher (Italy) try to defend their titles.

Veteran broadcaster Tim Ryan hosts NBC Sports coverage from the Universal Sports studio in Los Angeles.  Ryan is joined by former Canadian Ski Team member Todd Brooker and former U.S. Ski Team member Christin Cooper. Steve Porino, former U.S. Ski Team member will provide on-site reports from Val d\‘Isere.

VISA FREESTYLE INTERNATIONAL, SATURDAY, 3 P.M. ET
The Visa Freestyle Ski International Cup, held in Deer Valley, Utah will air Saturday on NBC Sports, as part of the World Cup series. The competition begins with moguls and aerials, for both men and women. Reigning national champions Emiko Torito and Michael Morse compete in moguls, along with World Cup champion Hannah Kearney of Vermont. Cup winners Emily Cook, Jeret \“Speedy\” Peterson, and Ryan St. Onge will compete in aerials on the White Owl run at Deer Valley.

The challenge continues at the Park City Mountain Resort with the halfpipe competition, followed by a return to Deer Valley to cover dual moguls. Halfpipe atheltes Colby West, Peter Olenick, and Jen Hudak of Park City headline the competitors.

Commentators Trace Worthington, Johnny Moseley, and Tina Dixon cover the action.

       Members of the media can get more information about NBC Universal and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at www.nbcumv.com.

# # #

Keywords · NBC · Amway Global Skate for the Heart · Kenny G

Name: Lyndsay M Iorio
Organization: NBC
Email:
Phone: +1.212-6642160
URL: http://www.nbcuni.com

Please refer all questions to the company listed above issuing the press release. SFC will not be able to assist you with any inquiries and disclaims any content in these press releases.