ESPN STAR Sports Races to Victory With Formula One(TM) Agreement

ESPN STAR Sports Races to Victory With Formula One(TM) Agreement

Latest Acquisition Reinforces Network as 'The Home of Motor Racing' in Asia

SINGAPORE, July 26 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- ESPN STAR Sports, Asia's number one sports broadcaster has once again captured pole position winning a five- year deal to broadcast the FIA Formula One(TM)(F1) World Championships across all its major territories in Asia excluding China, in addition to full and exclusive TV rights for India.

The new F1(TM) deal represents the continuation of a successful 14-year partnership between ESPN STAR Sports and F1(TM) that has also seen the total number of mostly affluent well-educated motor racing viewers in Asia rise to just under 85 million. The unpredictability and the competitive nature of the 2005 season has also driven ratings even higher, capturing a larger audience share in most markets compared to the previous season and surpassing even the top cable programmes on other news, documentaries and action channels (Peoplemeter).

Announcing the conclusion of the agreement, ESPN STAR Sports Managing Director Rik Dovey said, 'We're pleased to once again partner with the F1(TM) to broadcast the cream of motor sport to fans across Asia. Over the seasons that we've been broadcasting F1(TM), audience ratings have trebled on our network and look set to grow even higher. The introduction of Grand Prix races in Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Bahrain and Suzuka, Japan together with the arrival of Asian drivers such as Narain Karthikeyan (India) and Takuma Sato (Japan) have contributed to the increased interest in F1(TM) racing throughout the region and made this product even more significant for Asia. This completes an already stellar list of the world's top motor racing events on our network and reinforces us as the 'Home of Motor Racing' in Asia.'

In addition to the live broadcasts of all 19 Championship races, ESPN STAR Sports has created a range of support programming to provide motor racing fans with the most comprehensive package of news, analysis and commentary of any network. Preview show RaceDay starts off STAR Sports' coverage with a look at the race ahead, predictions, scenarios and past performances and how those are likely to develop in the day's race. This is followed by the LIVE broadcast of the race before Chequered Flag delivers a recap including highlights, analysis, rankings and results, the post-race press conference and the awards ceremony.

Continued Dovey, 'ESPN STAR Sports was the first to deliver such intense and expert programming for F1(TM) in Asia and this has broadened the support for the sport among the world's biggest populations and converted casual viewers into dedicated fans. The conclusion of this deal puts us firmly in the driver's seat as the broadcaster with the strongest programming line-up of any sports network in the world,' continued Dovey.

Commenting on the deal Bernie Eccelstone, Chief Executive Officer, Formula One(TM) Management said, 'We are delighted to be able to renew our long standing relationship with ESPN STAR Sports and together we hope to be able to continue to grow the popularity of F1(TM) in Asia.'

The ultimate motor sport event, it is estimated that the F1(TM) is watched by a global audience of 500 million people, making it the second most popular television sport behind soccer.

With the gradually increasing international nature of F1(TM), television has become the essential medium through which racing fans follow the sport. According to F1(TM)'s own research, 99% of all motor racing fans watch the sport on television with 76% watching all 19 races.

The 2005 F1(TM) season continues to be broadcast LIVE on STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Taiwan and STAR Sports Southeast Asia.

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

Web sites: http://www.espnstar.com ; http://espnstar.com ; http://espnstar.com.cn ; http://espnstar.com.tw

Source: ESPN STAR Sports

CONTACT: Stephenie Vasko, +65-6488-6126, or vaskos@espnstar.com, or Cheryl Sim, +65-6488-6134, or simc@espnstar.com, both for ESPN STAR Sports

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