WBZ-TV & the Boston Athletic Association renew their exclusive Boston Marathon partnership for three years

BOSTON, MA December 17, 2009 WBZ-TV and the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) are pleased to announce that they have renewed their exclusive Boston Marathon partnership for three years through the 116th running of the Boston Marathon in 2012. WBZ-TV has been carrying the Boston Marathon in its entirety for 27-years. At the conclusion of this three-year renewal, WBZ-TV will be the only station to have aired 30-years of complete, live, local coverage of one of the region's premiere sporting events.

As part of the agreement, WBZ-TV will continue to be the exclusive broadcaster of the Boston Marathon providing comprehensive live coverage of the 114th running of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 19, 2010. Since earlier start times debuted two years ago, WBZ-TV begins pre-race coverage in the morning newscasts, provides complete coverage of the Boston Marathon including all elite races, and continues until early afternoon with comprehensive coverage of the race as it concludes. As has been the case for decades, WBZ-TV will deploy a full team of anchors and reporters to cover the Boston Marathon from the start in Hopkinton, to the finish on Boylston, and to everything in between. In addition, WBZ-TV will stream the race live in its entirety in New England at www.wbztv.com and expand its offering of special web features.

�"The Boston Marathon is a world class sporting event and a favorite of the people of New England," said Ed Piette, President and General Manager of Boston's WBZ-TV and TV38 (WSBK). �"WBZ is the market's signature event station, and as such we are delighted to continue to be the sole local broadcaster of the Marathon. This new agreement extends the station's long and distinguished association with the Boston Athletic Association. When this contract is completed in 2012, it will mark three decades of complete and continuing coverage."

�"The B.A.A. and WBZ-TV have partnered to produce and broadcast unrivaled coverage of the Boston Marathon since the early 1980s," said Guy Morse, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association, which has organized the race since its inception in 1897. �"WBZ-TV covers the race wire-to-wire, from start to finish, from professional athletes to spectators, and both as an athletic event and a community-wide celebration of an event which is uniquely New England. We could not be more pleased that the partnership continues into the next decade.

This year's race will be particularly exciting since together we will celebrate John Hancock Financial's 25th consecutive year as principal sponsor."

Boston's WBZ-TV is part of CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation.