History
Alstair Gosling from Essex in the UK [3] founder of Extreme International and a passionate skier, surfer and came up with the idea for the Network in 1996. In 1997 Alistair, Ben Barret, Juanjo Marquez and Adam Oliver started approaching potential investors to back the plan for a new brand and TV network dedicated to extreme and adventure sports.[4] UPCtv, the programming arm of Europe's largest cable television operator UPC, was looking for new channels to offer its subscribers and in April 1998 Extreme international was exhibiting at the MIP programming market in Cannes, France, Ben Barrett the sales director was approached by Stephen Cohen, UPCtv's Chief Operating Officer, with a proposal for a joint venture between the two companies. Extreme partnered with UPC raised the capital required and The Extreme Sports Channel was launched from the Netherlands on 1 May 1999, and after launching in 22 other countries it launched in the UK in 2000.[5][6] The channel was designed by Gosling and Cohen, management and content was produced, curated and delivered by Extreme International and technical play out and uplink were supplied by UPC.
In late 1999, Extreme launched its United States operations, and charged veteran producer, Lloyd Bryan Adams with the task of heading up the North American presence. They launched EXtreme TV, a branded block on Fox Sports Net in March 2012.
In 2005,[5] after launching the channel in over sixty countries, and seeing the growth in digital and social media coming Extreme International acquired the Extreme brand and sold its 50% stake in Extreme Sports Channel to John Malone's Liberty Global Inc. which had by then become owner of UPC. The channel was put under the management of Chellomedia.[5]
Since the transaction Extreme has developed a network of social media channels, creator channels and a social media and influencer agency specializing and operating across action sports, adventure travel and youth culture.
Following the sale of its stake in the Extreme Sports Channel in 2005, Extreme International transitioned its focus toward digital media and brand management. The company operates a social media and influencer marketing agency that specializes in action sports, adventure travel, automotive and youth culture. As part of the Wavelength Network, it manages a portfolio of branded social media channels and a network of content creators. According to company reports, this network has over 300m followers, reaches an estimated 300 million people monthly across platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, generating over 2.6 billion video views annually.
Agency Services
The company provides digital marketing services, including social media management, video production, and influencer campaign distribution. It acts as a monetization partner for third-party creatros and social media publishers, such as Supercar Blondie and Metdaan, facilitating advertising and sponsorship deals. Additionally, Extreme collaborates with sports organizations and television distributors to adapt their IP, long-form broadcast content and live events for digital platforms and social media optimization.
Events
Extreme manages a portfolio of events focused on adventure sports, Creator colaborations and environmental themes. This includes the "Extreme Hangout," an environmental action platform launched during COP26 in Glasgow, which has hosted more than 35 events globally.
Hotels and Resorts.
In the hospitality sector, Extreme partners with investors, developers, and government tourism boards to develop adventure-themed hotels, resorts and destinations. These projects are designed to integrate sports infrastructure with tourism and local employment initiatives.
Sustainability Initiatives
Extreme operates around three guiding pillars, people, planet, and place and works to sustainably drive sport participation, an active and healthy lifestyle, job creation, infrastructure investment and tourism. Whilst aligning with five key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and government agendas there is a commitment to be sustainable, and have launched the Extreme Hangout an events impact platform,[7] are signed up to Planet Mark to measure impact, 1% For The Planet to give back and the UN’s Sports for Climate Action to drive awareness.
The channel launched in Poland in January 2006, followed by France in that same year.[5]
The UK version of the channel was free-to-air from launch until the summer of 2006, when a deal with BSkyB meant that it became encrypted.
On 28 September 2011 the channel began broadcasting in widescreen (16:9) format.
On 1 February 2012 the high-definition version of the channel began broadcasting in Italy.[8]
AMC Networks acquired Chellomedia on 2 February 2014. Chellomedia was rebranded by AMC Networks International on 8 July 2014.[9]
On 31 December 2015, the channel was removed from the Sky EPG.
As of 27 October 2021 Extreme became available on Channelbox via Freeview channel 271 in the UK. Channelbox is a free IPTV service available to any Freeview compatible device that can connect to both an aerial and internet.[10]
In June 2024, the company acquired their own streaming slot on Freeview[11] under the name Extreme Channel[12] on channel 295.[13]
As of February 2025 Extreme decided to give up its separate slot on Freeview in favour of Channelbox and focusing on their Extreme Plus streaming application [14]
