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William Hill TV buys Talksports 'The Game'

TalkSport television venture to run on Hill's interactive TV arm on Channel 425 on Sky platform

Tuesday 15th February 2005

William Hill, the UK’s leading fixed odds bookmaker has announced that it has bought the popular TalkSport television venture to run on it’s interactive TV arm on Channel 425 on the Sky platform.

David Hood, William Hill PR Director said; “There is a lot of interest in sports betting and football / The Premiership in particular. We believe live broadcasts of ‘The Game’ hosted by Patrick Kinghorn will prove extremely popular with the early evening viewer and we like the content and the look of the show from Talksport. We feel the previews the show provides to football matches later in the evening, on which William Hill is providing a range of bets, is a natural fit for Channel 425.”

“Since it launched in October 2004, Channel 425 has built up a dedicated core of evening punters with its nightly presentation of live greyhound racing and whilst we currently carry previews of other live sporting events, particularly football, the addition of the Talksport format is sure to widen our audience naturally. It provides the armchair viewer with live sports content between 4pm and 11pm a night.”

Whilst stimulating betting activity via Hills established Internet and telephone mediums, Channel 425 offers viewers an interactive function via the ‘red button’ with a host of RNG products available 24hrs a day. The channel also expects to launch a new live TV Poker Format by the Second-Quarter of 2005, with players winning their place on the small screen via the online tournaments on Williamhillpoker.com.

According to official figures, TalkSport radio attracted an average audience of just under two million in the final quarter of 2004.

Further Details: David Hood 07803 233689

COMPANY NOTES, About William Hill…

Founded in 1934, William Hill is one of the best-known names in the UK betting industry with worldwide reputation for integrity and innovation. In the announcement of Interim Results for the period ended 29 June 2004, William Hill reported Turnover up 42% to £3,886.6m (2003; £2,741.7m) and gross win up 18% to £382.1m (2003: £324.0m). Corporate Site: www.williamhillplc.com.uk

William Hill is one of the leading providers of fixed odds bookmaking services in the world, offering odds and taking bets on a wide range of sporting and other events. William Hill operates across 4 key divisions:

·Interactive: William Hill has the most profitable online betting operation of the all major UK bookmakers. It accepted its first bets on the Internet in 1998. Since then its online Sportsbook www.williamhill.co.uk, online Casino www.williamhillcasino.com and online radio station www.williamhillradio.com has attracted customers from almost 200 countries. Hills online poker room www.williamhillpoker.com was launched in January 2003. William Hill online has over 300,000 active accounts.

·Telebetting: William Hill is the UK market leader in telephone betting, having led innovations in the market place by introducing freephone and debit card betting. William Hill has approximately 450,000 registered accounts.

·Licensed Betting Offices: William Hill has a nationwide network of over 1,650 shops, making it the second largest operator in the UK by number of shops.

·Interactive Television: William Hill became the first major UK bookmaker to have it’s own Interactive TV station when launching ‘Channel 425’ on the Sky platform in October 2004. Providing live content and RNG betting products 24hours a day, the channel has earned rave reviews and is currently acquiring interactive registrations in excess of its expectations.




Source: OnlineCasinoNews