Championship Gaming Series (CGS), the only worldwide professional video gaming league, today announced an exclusive deal with G4 Media that brings broadcast programming of the league’s competitions to United States cable television for the first time.

G4, the only destination on television for video games, web culture, and the latest must-have tech gadgets, will air four 90-minute episodes beginning July 16, including the CGS 2008 North America Finals and the CGS 2008 World Finals.

“During our first season, Championship Gaming Series established itself as the creator of the world’s most compelling and engaging television programming dedicated to professional video gaming,” said Andy Reif, Chief Executive Officer for CGS. “Although we were a brand-new sports league in 2007, we created a incredibly powerful global television platform with partners including DIRECTV, DIRECTV Latin America, BSKYB, STAR and ESPN-STAR Sports, through which nearly 50 million cumulative viewers tuned in to watch our programming worldwide during our inaugural season. For our second season, we continue to grow our audience and worldwide reach and this new deal with G4 will help fans connect to CGS via US cable television, for the first time.”

“G4’s young male viewers are passionate about video games,” said Neal Tiles, President, G4. “By bringing Championship Gaming Series to the network, we are giving our audience the rare opportunity to watch some of the world’s best gamers in action. The competition is certain to appeal to our viewers.”
CGS programming will debut July 16 on G4 with the league’s 2008 North America playoffs.  The network will air four 90-minute episodes in total: the 2008 North America Final on Wed., July 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT; 2008 World Final Quarterfinals matches on Sat., July 19 at 10 p.m. ET/PT; 2008 World Final Semifinals matches on Sat., July 26 at 10 p.m. ET/PT; and the 2008 World Final Championship Match on Saturday, August 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

This announcement is the latest in a series of moves by CGS to expand its global broadcast and online audience. The G4 deal follows the league’s April 22 announcement of a groundbreaking deal with European sports broadcasting giant Eurosport to broadcast CGS matches throughout Europe and the launch of a dedicated YouTube channel for CGS on May 23