Winter X Games 13 set for Jan. 22-25

Aspen Daily News Staff Report
Organizers for the Winter X Games recently announced that the 13th iteration of the action sports event will be held Jan. 22-25, 2009 at Buttermilk Mountain.

Practice and elimination days are Jan. 20-21, and the event will be comprised of various competitions in skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.  The X Games is scheduled to end its Aspen/Snowmass run in 2010.

Winter X Games 12 was ESPN’s most-watched in history, according to a press release from the producer and event organizer. Eight telecasts averaged 863,000 homes, up 17 percent from 2007. Six of the eight telecasts were among the top 10 most viewed in Winter X history, including the Sunday night snowboard superpipe finale won by Shaun White — which was the most-viewed Winter X telecast ever, with 1,117,000 households watching (based on a 1.2 rating).

There were double-digit increases in viewership among many categories, such as men and “persons” ages 18-24, 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54. Overall viewership for the ABC telecast was up across the board, with men ages 18 and over up 29 percent over last year.