Bangkok--12 Sep--Total Quality PR ESPN STAR Sports (Ch.39, 65, True Visions), Asia’s No. 1 sports broadcaster, announced today broadcast rights partnerships for the first edition of the ICC World Twenty20, scheduled to take place in September 2007 in South Africa. Covering television and new media platforms including internet and mobile, these distribution partnerships will make the games available to millions of viewers across the world. For the first time ever, the ICC event will be shown live via television in China. These arrangements promise unmatched reach for the inaugural edition of the Twenty20 tournament, bringing the game to new markets and audiences whilst continuing to strengthen its popularity in the core cricket territories. Late last year, ESPN STAR Sports’ affiliate, EML, was awarded the global telecast rights from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for all of their events from 2007 to 2015. In addition, ESPN STAR Sports recently launched a dedicated 24x7 cricket channel, STAR Cricket, reinforcing its position as the leading sports broadcaster in cricket. In the short span of time since acquiring the rights, ESPN STAR Sports and its affiliate have already secured global coverage for the tournament with over 105 countries slated to showcase the inaugural edition of ICC World Twenty20. The coverage will be available on ESPN, STAR Sports, STAR Cricket and their affiliated television channels in various Asian countries including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and China. In addition, ESPN STAR Sports has secured broadcast partnerships with leading broadcasters across the globe including deals with DirecTV and ATN in North America; Caribbean Media Corporation in the Caribbean; South African Broadcasting Corporation and Super Sports in Africa; Taj TV (TEN Sports) in the Middle East; Sky Television Network in New Zealand; Premier Media Group in Australia and SuperSport in Greece, Cyprus and Mauritius. Mr Jamie Davis, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports, said: “We are delighted to begin our partnership with ICC with the 2007 ICC World Twenty20. Through our own platforms in Asia and with our partners across the globe, we have been able to set new benchmarks in distribution which will pave the way for a record number of fans to witness the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 South Africa 2007 action in all its glory.” Added, Mr Manu Sawhney, Executive Vice President, Programming & Marketing, ESPN STAR Sports, “We are extremely pleased with the enthusiastic response from the partners across the world for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20. In addition to these partnerships, we are currently in discussions with more broadcasters across markets and we would soon be sharing the details on them. This would further extend the reach of this tournament thus setting new standards in global distribution of cricket”. Mr Malcolm Speed, ICC Chief Executive Officer, said, “The ICC is delighted to have such a strong and committed partner in ESPN STAR Sports who has consistently delivered quality cricket coverage with the highest production values to fans. “And now, with these broadcast partnerships covering more than 105 countries, including the United States of America and, for the first time, China, the first ever ICC World Twenty20 has the potential to reach new heights of viewership thus ensuring the best possible coverage we could hope for, something that should help ensure our strong sport grows even stronger.” The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 South Africa 2007 to be held in September 2007 will be the first event to be broadcast by ESPN STAR Sports as a part of its eight-year agreement with ICC. The tournament has stirred up a lot of interest in the cricketing world, and especially in South Africa, with sell-out crowds expected for the games.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 to a cumulative reach of more than 310 million viewers in Asia, 24 hours a day. ESPN STAR Sports has 15 networks covering 24 countries, each localized to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN Asia, ESPN China, ESPN India, ESPN Taiwan, ESPN Singapore, ESPN Philippines, MBC-ESPN (Korea), ESPN Hong Kong, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Taiwan, STAR Sports Southeast Asia, STAR Sports Singapore & STAR Cricket. On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. 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. mobileESPN enables sports fans to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever with content specially delivered via their mobile phones. mobileESPN is the first of a regional suite of services to be offered across seven markets in Asia Pacific — Airtel (India), Hutch (India), Idea (India), BSNL (India), BPL Mobile (India), CSL (Hong Kong), Globe Telecom (Philippines) Maxis (Malaysia), SingTel (Singapore), Taiwan Mobile (Taiwan), Telkomsel (Indonesia), StarHub (Singapore), MobileOne (Singapore), PCCW (Hong Kong), Sunday (Hong Kong) and Astro (Malaysia). For media information, please contact: Tom Van Blarcom /Sittichai Uthaiwatthanathorn Total Quality PR (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Tel: +66 (0) 2260 5820 Email: [email protected]