MEDIA RELEASE
5 May, 2008
FOX SPORTS AND NINE NETWORK SECURE
AUSTRALIAN TELEVISION RIGHTS TO ICC CRICKET
EVENTS
FOX SPORTS and the Nine Network are pleased to announce an agreement with the ESPN STAR
Sports (“ESS”) to provide live television coverage of ICC cricket events from 2008 through to 2011.
The ICC rights deal encompasses key international events including; the 2008 and 2010 ICC
Champions Trophy tournaments, the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009 and the ICC Cricket World Cup
scheduled in the sub continent in 2011. ESPN STAR Sports through its affiliate, EML, holds the
exclusive global telecast rights from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for all of their events
from 2007 to 2015.
David Malone, CEO of FOX SPORTS said: “We are delighted to be continuing our relationship with
ESS and the ICC in partnership with the Nine Network. In securing the joint rights to ICC events we
are demonstrating our ongoing commitment to delivering viewers coverage of the Australian cricket
team overseas.”
“FOX SPORTS is pleased to be able to provide subscribers live coverage of every match played
as part of upcoming ICC events.”
Nine Network Chief Executive Officer, David Gyngell, said: "We are genuinely delighted to have
formed this partnership with Fox Sports which underscores the long term commitment we have to
investing in first-class content.
“Nine is committed to bringing Australian audiences the best free television coverage from the
cricket championships as part of our ongoing support of the official Australian Cricket team
events."
Manu Sawhney, Managing Director of ESPN STAR Sports, said “We are very pleased to extend
our relationship with FOX SPORTS and Nine Network. Australian cricket fans can now look
forward to catching the action from all major ICC Events for the next four years on either a pay TV
platform through FOX SPORTS or through terrestrial television through Nine.”
Under the agreement with the ESS, the Nine Network and FOX SPORTS will broadcast coverage
from the ICC Cricket World Cup and the ICC World Twenty20 while FOX SPORTS will broadcast
all matches from the ICC Champions Trophy tournaments in 2008 and 2010.
This year FOX SPORTS will also broadcast live and exclusive coverage of Australia’s overseas
cricket tours to the West Indies and India.
About FOX SPORTS
FOX SPORTS is Australia’s leading sports broadcaster, screening an average of around 20 hours
of LIVE sport per day into more than 2 million homes around Australia with over six million potential
viewers through FOXTEL, AUSTAR and OPTUS TV. FOX SPORTS is also available in 3600 pubs
and clubs as well as 190,000 hotel rooms throughout Australia. FOX SPORTS currently has
broadcast rights for the AFL, NRL, A-League, Socceroos matches, Super 14, Wallaby tests,
domestic and international cricket, netball’s ANZ Championship, all four Golf Majors, all four Tennis
Grand Slams, NBA basketball and motorsport.
About Nine Network Australia
The Nine Network is one of Australia’s top-rating commercial television networks. Its backbone is
the three television stations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, along with the newly acquired
regional broadcaster, NBN Television, and agreements with other regional operators.
The Nine Network’s strength and consistency comes from its extensive news and current affairs
coverage, rights to broadcast popular sporting events and its slate of entertainment and lifestyle
programs.
The Nine Network continues to set benchmarks in news and sports coverage with multi awardwinning shows including 60 Minutes, Today, Sunday, A Current Affair and Wide World of Sports.
Originally established in 1956 as Nine Network, it was separately listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange as Network Nine Australia Limited from 1990 until 1994.
In 1994 Publishing and Broadcasting Limited was created through the merger of Nine and the then
separately listed ACP Magazines.
The Nine Network is now 100% owned by PBL Media, a joint venture between CVC Asia Pacific
Limited and Consolidated Media Holdings, which holds the media assets of the recently split
Publishing and Broadcasting Limited business.
About ESPN STAR Sports
ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite
broadcasters. As Asia's definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN
STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies – Walt
Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) – to deliver a diverse array of
international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay and free-to-air services.
ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the
globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of more than 310 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR
Sports has 17 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class
premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN Asia, ESPN China, ESPN
Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN Singapore, ESPN Taiwan,
MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR
Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports Singapore, STAR Sports Southeast Asia, STAR Sports Taiwan,
and STAR Cricket.
On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes
premier sporting events around Asia. ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time,
any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and mobile. The multi-lingual, online
platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw and footballcrazy.tv interact with
millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. Developed for
the sports fan that is constantly on the move, mobileESPN and STAR Sports Mobile delivers
differentiated mobile content targeted at its various audiences. mobileESPN enables the serious
sports fan to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever before with a combination of
specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis. STAR Sports Mobile is
a lifestyle product that gives fans a “feel-good experience”; delivering exclusive video excerpts
from leading football clubs Arsenal and Liverpool as well as highlights from STAR Sports
programmes covering opinions, how-tos, gossip and latest game reviews.
Enquiries can be made by calling 1300 301 415 or visiting www.pve.tv
*All events are correct at the time of printing and all programming is subject to change. All events are LIVE unless stated. All times Eastern Daylight
Saving Time.
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