NBC Sports & Universal Sports to broadcast alpine ski season

The best skiers in the world including Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn and Ted Ligety will appear on NBC Sports and Universal Sports all season, as Universal Sports presents coverage of the 2008-09 International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine World Cup.The best skiers in the world including Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn and Ted Ligety will appear on NBC Sports and Universal Sports all season, as Universal Sports presents coverage of the 2008-09 International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine World Cup.

The 2009 Alpine World Championships Feb. 2-15 from Val d’Isere, France will be one of the highlights included in the coverage by NBC Sports and Universal Sports.

Veteran broadcaster Tim Ryan will host NBC Sports’ ski coverage. Ryan will be joined on-air by former Canadian Ski Team member Todd Brooker and former U.S. Ski Team members Kristina Kosnick and Steve Porino.

Phil McNichol, former head coach of the U.S. Men’s Alpine Team, joins the Universal Sports broadcast team offering analysis accompanied by Porino and Steve Schlanger, Universal Sports’ multi-sport host.

Bode Miller, defending overall World Cup champion and the most successful U.S. ski racer with 28 World Cup victories, will be contributing weekly diary entries along with insight from his coach Forest Carey. UniversalSports.com will also feature blogs from Julia Mancuso (Alpine), Kaylin Richardson (Alpine), Casey Puckett (Ski Cross), Scott McCartney (Alpine), Tyson Buldoc (Freestyle), and Bobby Moyer (Junior Alpine).

NBC will broadcast coverage of the Aspen Winternational women’s giant slalom on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. ET and the Birds of Prey men’s downhill on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. ET.

Universal Sports, available in 30 million homes, will offer coverage of the entire alpine World Cup season on its 24-hour television network with simulcast streaming available on UniversalSports.com. Top stops in the schedule include Aspen and Beaver Creek, as well as Lake Louise, Val d’Isere, St. Moritz, Val Gardena, Adelboden (SUI), Cortina d’Ampezzo, Kitzbuhel, Schladming, Garmisch Partenkirchen, and Are. In addition, fans can visit the skiing channel on UniversalSports.com.

Upcoming Alpine World Cup on Universal Sports schedule:

Nov. 29–30 Women – Aspen, Colorado

Nov. 29–30 Men – Lake Louise, Canada

Dec. 4–7 Men – Beaver Creek, Colorado

Dec. 5-7 Women – Lake Louise, Canada

Dec. 13–14 Women – La Molina, Spain

Dec. 13–14 Men – Val d’Isere, France

Dec. 19–20 Women – St. Moritz, Switzerland

Dec. 19–20 Men – Val Gardena, Italy

Dec. 28–29 Women – Semmering, Austria

Dec. 28–29 Men – Bormio, Italy