FOX International Channels (FIC) Asia, News Corporation’s international multi-media business, has renamed all ESPN networks to FOX SPORTS networks across all major affiliate platforms in Asia. This follows News Corporation’s successful acquisition of ESPN’s partnership interest in ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) in November last year.
The renaming signals the introduction of the flagship new channel FOX SPORTS to Asia, as the new destination for sports in the region along with the high-definition channel FOX SPORTS PLUS (HD); the 24-7 sports news channel, FOX SPORTS NEWS; the broadband network, FOX SPORTS PLAY and the mobile service, FOX SPORTS MOBILE. FOX SPORTS is already available in the U.S., Latin America and Europe. Now through the renaming, the brand has expanded into Asia significantly, making the channel’s footprint more global.
Going forward, FIC Asia will manage all FOX SPORTS networks along with the current STAR Sports, FOX Football Channel, STAR Cricket and STAR Cricket HD networks across various countries in the region, giving the sports networks an opportunity to be cross promoted to over 500 million subscribers across Asia.
“Sports has always been a driver genre in the TV business and with the addition of FOX SPORTS to FIC Asia’s portfolio, we are well poised to further our position as Asia’s leading network,’ said Peter Hutton, Senior Vice President, Sports at FOX International Channels. “We are looking to launch even more premium sports content in the near future and are committed to making FOX SPORTS the premiere destination for passionate sports fans.”
FOX SPORTS will continue to bring to viewers the same great sporting content enjoyed on ESPN and more. This includes the Barclays Premier League, Spanish Liga BBVA; motor-racing (Formula One, SBK, MotoGP, NASCAR, Dakar Rally); Grand Slam tennis (Wimbledon, Australian Open) and other events such as the WTA Tour, ATP World Tour and the Hopman Cup; the Golf Majors (The Masters, US Open and The Open Championship) as well as the PGA Grand Slam of Golf; popular American sports (Major League Baseball, NCAA College Football and Basketball), premier Asian events (Asian Football Confederation events, ASEAN Basketball League, OneAsia golf tournaments, HSBC Asian Five Nations) and top cricket properties (International Cricket Council events, Champions League Twenty20, international and domestic cricket from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and England and Wales Cricket Board, Bangladesh Premier league and Sri Lanka Premier League) among others.
FOX SPORTS is also launching the new sports news programme FOX SPORTS CENTRAL, which replaces SportsCenter on ESPN. The show’s bold sports presentation brings alive the most important sport news by offering a comprehensive 360 degree coverage delivered by the most credible presenters and unique insights and opinions from the most knowledgeable and well-informed experts.
Taking fans’ engagement beyond television, foxsportsasia.com is now the new online destination in place of espnstar.com for comprehensive, real time and authoritative content across an unrivalled breadth of sports news, editorial opinions, scores and more. Fans will also enjoy the same innovative sports coverage online in local languages including Bahasa Malaysia (www.foxsports.my), Bahasa Indonesia (www.foxsports.co.id) and Mandarin (www.foxsports.com.tw).
