It’s the dawn of a new era for sports broadcasting – and I’m not talking the Olympics.

After months of speculation, The Walt Disney Company and News Corporation Limited, coowners of ESPN STAR Sports, will dissolve their 16-year joint venture and say farewell to its MD. Still, the regional sports broadcaster needs to fulfill contractual obligations – like London 2012, for which it has exclusive Pay-TV rights in Asia.

So, while undergoing management changes, it looks like business as usual as ESS counts down to London 2012 and unleashes what promises to be an unprecedented Olympic coverage (story on page 10). What the industry would want to know is – after the Olympic flame finally extinguishes in August, what kind of a new ESS will emerge out of the flames of change?

Meanwhile, top execs will gather for both the CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum and CommunicAsia in Singapore for all things satellite. Southeast Asia is projected for growth, while India is in the spotlight for both the right and wrong reasons. The special Guide to Satellites and Playout Services will provide the lowdown.

It’s programming “Win, Lose, or Draw” as I unveil which US primetime series got renewed or cancelled at the recent broadcast upfronts, and their effect on Asian broadcasters like SPT. I also round up drama “ingredients” like fairy tales, comedy, vampires and serial killers to see just which will tantalise and which will sour viewer “taste buds”.

The formats marketplace looks increasingly promising, as Avi Armoza of Armoza Formats attests. Read the Armoza interview, plus a story on formats fever in China.

Finally, HBO Asia turns the big 2 – 0 this June. I’d write that I remember Band of Brothers like it was yesterday but gosh it’s been 11 years already!