ESPN STAR Sports (True Visions, Ch.65, 66) and Imagine OmniMedia today announced the signing of an agreement that will see the companies work together to develop, produce & broadcast the first global, reality-based football entertainment series in Asia.
Currently titled ‘Sport*Star Football’, the series will be a global hunt for the next football superstar. Under the terms of the agreement, Imagine OmniMedia will produce the upcoming original series while ESPN STAR Sports will provide creative inputs, market and broadcast the series across its entire footprint in Asia. In addition, ESS intends to use its matchless line-up of popular talent and extensive array original programming to build the series amongst the fans in Asia.
Manu Sawhney, Managing Director, ESPN STAR Sports, “We are committed to serving our fans by providing them unique opportunities to engage with their favorite sports across platforms. With this interactive and entertaining initiative, football fans will have a lot more to look forward to in days to come.”
“We are delighted to be exploring this relationship with Imagine OmniMedia and with our Asia-wide reach, strong brand strong equity and strength of our new media platforms, we are confident millions of fans across Asia will greatly enjoy this new series.”
Riaz Mehta, CEO of Imagine OmniMedia “We are proud to be partnering with ESPN STAR Sports on this great new show. With our expertise in producing compelling reality-based TV entertainment, such as the recent hit series, The Contender Asia, and ESPN STAR Sports’ Asia wide reach across multiple platforms, this unique concept will broaden football’s appeal across more markets and audiences. ‘Sport*Star Football’ is the brainchild of David Edwards who is also the Executive Producer and Creator of Rock*Star:INXS. I am confident that with our combined industry experience, the show is bound to be a huge success in Asia”
ESS, Asia’s No. 1 sports broadcaster, currently holds the broadcast rights for leading international and regional sporting properties including Barclays Premier League, The FA, The UEFA Champions League, The AFC and currently showcases more than 350 LIVE top quality international football matches and brings more than 3900 hours of original programming and news every year to millions of fans across 24 countries in Asia.
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 aims to provide interactive and entertaining opportunities to engage with sports, delivering exclusive video excerpts from leading football clubs Arsenal and Liverpool as well as highlights from STAR Sports original programmes covering opinions, instructional tips and the latest online game reviews.
About Imagine OmniMedia
Imagine OmniMedia is a leader in creating international quality programming with an Asian flavour. Imagine’s recent hit series Contender Asia is a testament to the company’s philosophy of developing the highest calibre content for the growing Asian television and new media market. Imagine collaborates with top tier international brands and television networks to bring compelling and entertaining content to its viewers. Imagine also has a variety of film and new media projects currently under development.
For more information, please contact:
Tom Van Blarcom / Ruthaiwan Tanwongwan
Total Quality PR (Thailand) Co., Ltd.,
Tel: +66 (0) 2260 5820
Email:
[email protected]