ESPN Introduces Saturn X Center, Nightly X Games Highlights Show - News - Dirt Rider Magazine

As a special feature to X Games 11, the premier action sports competition in the world, ESPN will introduce Saturn X Center, a new one-hour news and information show hosted by Linda Cohn that will air each night of X Games 11—August 4-7—on ESPN2 at 12 am ET/9 pm PT. Over the course of four days, the show will include X Games sports highlights, celebrity and lifestyle segments reported by top musical names like G Love and Slash and two Guinness World Record attempts.Saturn X Center's main focus will be extensive highlights and analysis of each day's competitions and advance previews of the competitions for the following days. Cohn, who has spent the past two years hosting SportsCenter during the X and Winter X Games, will serve as host of Saturn X Center. On-site reporters and analysts will add color and commentary to the show, which will also cover music, lifestyle, athlete and celebrity stories that surround X Games."As the X Games continues to grow under ESPN's live event coverage, we feel that a nightly news and information show on the X Games is a good service to our viewers," explained Ron Semiao, senior vice president, ESPN Original Entertainment. "Saturn X Center will allow us to delve deeper into the competition with expanded highlights and analysis while also providing entertaining pieces on the big event the X Games has become. There are so many compelling storylines surrounding all aspects of the X Games that fans and viewers can now enjoy on Saturn X Center."X Games 11 will be held in and around Los Angeles August 4-7 for its third consecutive year and will air live on ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes. The competition features more than 150 athletes from around the world competing in BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing and Wakeboard events.Talent and Special Guests on Saturn X Center
• Host: Linda Cohn
• Entertainment & Lifestyle Reporter: "G at X" segments featuring hip hop singer G Love
• Moto Reporter: industry veteran Robbie Floyd
• Skateboard and BMX Reporter: action sports personality Angela Sun
• Slash, guitarist from the rock band Velvet Revolver will be interviewed on Thursday and Friday's show to give his perspective on the music performances at X Games.
• Saturn Sky Box is a special interview area at the base of the Skateboard Big Air ramp where action sports industry commentator Kip Williamson will conduct a variety of high profile interviews.Saturn X Center production team will be supplying extensive and exclusive X Games content for ESPN.com and ESPN360 (ESPN's broadband platform). Content will include custom analysis and features from the show like G Love's lifestyle report, Slash's music features and other nightly pieces ranging from Top 10 Plays to athlete interviews.On Thursday and Sunday, Saturn X Center will feature professional BMX athlete Mike "Rooftop" Escamilla who will attempt to break the world record of the longest distance while doing backflip on a BMX bike, by jumping off the Skateboard Big Air jump at STAPLES Center. Guinness World Records will be on site to record the jump to determine if it makes world record status. The record, currently held by X Games athlete Allan Cooke, is 54 feet.SportsCenter will also be on-site airing live from X Games each day of the event, including August 4, which is the official California stop on SportsCenter Across America, the 50-states-in-50-days summer tour.Tickets for X Games 11 are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.ESPN, The Worldwide Leader in Action Sports, first developed its X Games franchise in 1995. Three years later, the first International X Games event was launched with the Asian X Games. Today, several International X Games events and competitions are staged throughout the world. X Games will remain in Los Angeles through 2009.