3 September 2003: ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), Asia’s number one sports broadcaster has added two new channels, bringing its total number of services in Asia to eleven. ESPN Singapore and STAR Sports Singapore, both of which have dedicated commercial streams, broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The addition of these two services takes the number of ESPN’s services in Asia to six and STAR Sports services to five. The others are ESPN Asia, ESPN India, ESPN Taiwan, ESPN Philippines, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Taiwan and STAR Sports S.E.A.
Said Rik Dovey, Managing Director of ESPN STAR Sports: ‘This is part of our customisation strategy to bring our brands closer to our viewers. Having dedicated commercial streams featuring local advertisers will also enhance ESPN and STAR Sports relevance in Singapore. We have done this in India and Taiwan and the returns in terms of brand equity and consumer loyalty are very apparent’.
He continued: ‘This shows the importance we place on Singapore as a key TV market. Customising our channels requires a major investment on our part and doing so in multiple forms intensifies the effort required. What advertisers are getting is the widest variety of sport available in Asia, the flexibility to zero in on an audience they are seeking to reach and all the cost efficiencies that come with it. In the end, it’s a win-win situation for both viewers and advertisers.’
ESPN and STAR Sports programming has continued to rank top among cable channels in Singapore. Peoplemeter data showed a single EPL match on ESPN and STAR Sports rating up to 10 times better than the best programme on other cable channels as well as reaching 167% more viewers than all cable news channels combined.
Other peoplemeter data showed that 51% of all cable individuals watched SportsCenter Asia, one of ESS’s biggest programming initiatives. The number jumped to 54% among professionals, managers, executives and businessmen, ahead of the competing sports news programs on other cable news channels. (TN Sofres Infosys, Jan – Dec 2002).
For further information, please contact:
Stephenie Vasko, ESPN STAR Sports tel: (65) 6488 6129 or email: vaskos@espnstar.com