ESPN Star Sports Wins Exclusive Broadcast Rights For 2006 Fifa World Cup(TM) For Indian Sub-Continent

ESPN Star Sports Wins Exclusive Broadcast Rights For 2006 Fifa World Cup(TM) For Indian Sub-Continent

SINGAPORE, Feb. 2 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- ESPN STAR Sports, Asia's number one sports broadcaster, today announced its acquisition of the world's biggest sporting event, the 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM) for the Indian Sub-continent. Under the terms of the agreement with Infront Sports & Media, FIFA's exclusive television partner for the event, ESPN STAR Sports will provide full and exclusive coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM) including all 64 matches on its two channels, ESPN and STAR Sports.

The successful conclusion of the 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM) rights package sees the network continue its winning streak of securing top-flight football programming, which includes exclusive broadcast rights for the English Premier League, Spanish Primera Liga, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and the FA Cup. The agreement will represent a new watermark, reinforcing the network's long- term position as the region's number one and the most complete sports broadcaster, both in terms of programming and the quality of its coverage.

In the very near future, ESPN STAR Sports will also be showcasing the exciting, exclusive coverage of the final of the FIFA World Youth Championships 2005, which kicks off in the Netherlands on 10 June 2005 and the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005, which will be played in five cities in Germany - - Frankfurt, Hannover, K?ln, Leipzig and N¨¹mberg -- from 15 to 29 June 2005. The FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 will see hosts Germany against Olympic champions Argentina, Australia and Tunisia, while in Group B, FIFA World Cup holders Brazil take on European champions Greece as well as Japan and Mexico.

This latest acquisition means that more than 25 million households in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan will get to watch the network's extensive 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM) coverage, which includes live matches accompanied by English and Hindi commentary, daily pre-shows during match days, a daily review show as well as special lead-up programming..

Rik Dovey, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports said, "No other sporting event captures the world's focus and imagination like the FIFA World Cup(TM). Our successful acquisition of this event marks another step in our ongoing strategy to bring our viewers only the best must-see programming available. Key to this acquisition is the fact that rights holders like Infront Sports & Media clearly recognise that we have the best distribution of any sports network in Asia and appreciate the value we bring to their properties. We are confident this event will be seen by the widest possible audience in the region"

Added Mr Dovey, "This year, we saw a tremendous growth in soccer viewership ratings in the Indian sub-Continent with our coverage of world- class events like the UEFA EURO 2004(TM), the English Premier League and the Spanish Premera Liga. As part of our efforts to drive the popularity of international soccer in the region to the highest level, we have invested heavily in localising our content to the language and viewing habits of the region. Our coverage of the sport in the Indian Sub-continent is unrivalled."

Oliver Seibert, an Executive Director of Infront, said: "ESPN STAR Sports is a great soccer supporter and this agreement will continue the process of developing football across the Asian region." The 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM) is expected to once again captivate soccer fans the world over as 32 teams battle for the coveted trophy. According to FIFA's own viewing figures, the cumulative audience during the FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan(TM) reached a total of 28.8 billion viewers over the 25 days of competition making it the most extensively covered and viewed event in television history.

In India alone, overall interest in international soccer is showing signs of tremendous growth. The telecast of UEFA EURO 2004(TM) on ESPN and STAR SPORTS outperformed almost all mainline channels according to TAM Media Research with matches between June 12 and July 3 (excluding the final) reaching a cumulative audience of 182 million compared to 27.8 million for EURO 2000.

ESPN STAR Sports already provides the most comprehensive football programming to viewers in Asia and the Indian Sub-continent with a line-up that includes the English Premier League, FA Cup matches, England Home Team matches, UEFA Champions League, the Asian Football packages and Spanish Primera Liga among others.

Concluded Mr Dovey, "All this football along with top international cricket, the Masters, British and US Open golf majors, Australian Open and Wimbledon tennis, NBA basketball as well as daily sports news completes what is the strongest programming line-up of any sports broadcaster in the region.'

ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world's leading cable and satellite broadcasters, ESPN Inc. and STAR. We are Asia's complete sports provider reaching over 110 million households for ESPN and over 54 million households for STAR Sports (as of July 2004). We have 13 networks -- ESPN Asia, ESPN India, ESPN Taiwan, ESPN Philippines, MBC-ESPN (Korea), ESPN Singapore, ESPN Hong Kong, STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Taiwan, STAR Sports Singapore, STAR Sports S.E.A and STAR Sports Hong Kong. We bring the world's premier live sports and leading regional events to viewers 24 hours a day. On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia, including the Asian X Games and the San Miguel Asian 9Ball Tour. On-line, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. This multilingual, online platform which is closely integrated with ESPN and STAR Sports on air networks, has established the sites as the number one on-line sports destination in their respective markets.

For further information, please contact:

Stephenie Vasko, ESPN STAR Sports
Tel: +65-6488-6126
Email: vaskos@espnstar.com

Cheryl Sim, ESPN STAR Sports
Tel: +65-6488-6134
Email: simc@espnstar.com


Source: ESPN STAR Sports

CONTACT: Stephenie Vasko of ESPN STAR Sports, +65-6488-6126, or
vaskos@espnstar.com


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