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	MSA in the News (Reprints)

Reprinted from:
T.E.Q.

NSNSports Network Signs Agreements With Phar-Mor, WPIAL, ESPN Radio

Management Science Associates, Inc.'s NSNSports Network^TM has signed a series of important new agreements including a corporate sponsorship for naming and broadcast rights and broadcast contracts with numerous area radio stations, regional high schools and the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL). The announcements were made today by Dr. Alfred A. Kuehn, founder and chairman of Pittsburgh-based MSA, an internationally known pioneer in data management advertising and marketing research. NSN Sports Network is the successor to the former Nauticom Sports Network, which shut down operations in December.

"The signing of these agreements marks the launching of a new era in community sports broadcasting in western Pennsylvania," Dr. Kuehn said. "Many high school students and parents were disappointed when Nauticom stopped broadcasting last year. The service, which began operating in 1999, had filled a community need but was not commercially viable. MSA acquired some Nauticom assets, contracted for others and developed a new business model that it began testing with the broadcasting early this year of the WPIAL basketball playoff games. Since then, we have broadcast and archived numerous hockey and baseball games, some wrestling matches and even -- in the first non-sporting broadcast -- the Commencement Ceremonies at North Allegheny High School in June. MSA is delighted to provide this important community service here in one of the hottest sports areas for high school sports in the country." Phar-Mor Inc. of Youngstown, OH, is a corporate partner and the network will be known as the Phar-Mor NSNSports Network for the 2001-2002 academic school year, according to Dr. Kuehn. A number of other advertisers have signed on for the kickoff of the Fall football season and more are expected to join as the opportunity to reach these attractive teenage audiences (and their parents) becomes apparent.

The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) has signed an exclusive three-year contract with NSN Sports to broadcast and stream over the Internet at www.nsnsports.com all playoff and championship games for all high-school sports. NSN Sports broadcast the first WPIAL high school baseball championship game from PNC Park, the Pirates new stadium, on May 31. The WPIAL includes schools in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Beaver, Lawrence, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties. NSN broadcasts may cover schools from as far away as Mercer, Blair, and Bedford and Clearfield counties.

"The WPIAL/NSN agreement mandates that WPIAL football and boys/girls basketball championship finals in every classification will be broadcast live over the network stations and the NSN website," according to WPIAL Executive Director Larry Hanley. "We are most pleased that championship events which haven't received much radio coverage in the past will be gaining more extensive exposure with this agreement."

WPIAL Administrative Assistant Jim Collins said: "All play-off games broadcast on network stations will be streamed and archived for a year providing friends of the WPIAL schools and athletes exposure throughout the country. NSN is working closely with the WPIAL planning broadcasts of the championships including coverage of the boys and girls golf championships this Fall," Mr. Collins added.

ESPN Radio 1250 in Pittsburgh has agreed to become the "flagship station" of the new NSN Sports Network. ESPN will carry the" NSN Scoreboard Show" from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. each evening during football season and the one-hour high-school sports talk show, "NSN Scholastic Forum," from 8 to 9 a.m. on Saturdays through September, after which it switches to 9 to 10 a.m. The Network has signed up a number of affiliated stations in western Pennsylvania, including WJPA 1450 AM and WJPA 95.3 FM, Washington; WANB 103.1 FM, Waynesburg; WBUT 1050 AM, WISR 680 AM and WLER 97.7 FM, Butler; WLSW 103.9 FM, Connellsville; WQTW 1570 AM, WCNS 1480, and WLCY 106.3 FM, Latrobe, and WZUM 1590 AM, Monroeville. More stations are expected to join before the beginning of football season. Don Rebel, formerly of the Nauticom Sports Network, is Operations Manager of the NSNSports Network and Jeff Weber is Director of Marketing, Dr. Kuehn said. Mr. Rebel is a well-known play-by-play announcer and host of several NSN sports-talk shows. Scores, archive broadcasts, chat rooms and talk show services will be offered on the Website at www.nsnsports.com while it continues to provide live broadcasts of high school athletic events.

A pioneer in marketing and media research, MSA has been based in Pittsburgh since 1962. It was the first to fully integrate Cable TV network and with spot and network TV broadcast data for media planning and scheduling for major advertisers and their agencies. All U.S. Cable TV networks now use MSA's systems and a subsidiary, MSA Focus, provides similar services in 20 other countries. MSA is also developing the Pittsburgh Tri-State Corridor as an Addressable Marketing test area to place it in the Top 10 Markets along with Baltimore and Washington. With more than 800 employees and a long-term growth rate of 18 percent, MSA is one of the few Pittsburgh high-tech companies that has increased total employment and not had layoffs this past year. The company has more than 300 clients worldwide, including some of the largest U.S. and foreign corporations and institutions, and has offices in New York City, Boston, Chicago, High Point, NC; Toronto, Canada; Cardiff, Wales, and Kuala Lumpur.