Singapore, 6 August 2004: ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s number one sports broadcaster and UBC, its Thai pay TV partner, have reached a multi-year renewal agreement for exclusive carriage of the ESPN and STAR Sports channels in Thailand. With news of the renewal comes confirmation that full coverage of the English Premier League, Asia’s most popular television sport, will be available on the ESPN and STAR Sports channels on UBC.
Announcing the conclusion of the broadcast contract with UBC, ESPN STAR Sports Managing Director Rik Dovey said, ‘We’re excited about continuing another chapter with UBC. This agreement between our companies represents a renewed commitment and partnership, and together we look forward to bringing viewers in Thailand the best sports television including the English Premier League which kicks off in just over a week’.
‘The agreement is timely as it ensures that viewers in Thailand do not miss out on our expanded coverage of the EPL’, Mr Dovey continued. ‘The upcoming season will be bigger and better. For the first time in Asia, ten matches will be shown each competition week most of them LIVE; the rest will be on a quick turnaround and will be supported with a line up of programming covering predictions, highlights, news and information, as well as pre and post game analysis.’
In all, ESPN STAR Sports will deliver up to 370 matches each EPL season, compared to its previous total of 165 matches. Beyond the coverage on air, there will be an enhanced series of interactive and multi-media activities on espnstar.com.
UBC’s CEO, Sompan Charumilinda said, ‘ UBC and ESPN STAR Sports have also agreed to grant limited syndication rights of 17 LIVE matches per season to terrestrial TV to peak the interest of viewers and drive them to the full EPL coverage on UBC.’
Concluded Mr Dovey, ‘Our English Premier League programming together with our FA package of football rights, UEFA Champions League and the Asian Football packages completes what is the strongest football programming line-up of any sports broadcaster in the world.’
Viewers will also be able to continue watching ESPN STAR Sports’ top quality broadcast of the biggest sporting events in the world including the US Masters, British and US Open golf majors, the PGA Tour events, the Australian, Wimbledon & US Open tennis championships; the ATP Masters Series, Formula One, the NBA, the World Pool Championships and many others.
Contact:
Stephenie Vasko
ESPN STAR Sports
tel: (65) 6488 6126
email: vaskos@espnstar.com