FOX Sports expands across 16 countries in Asia

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FOX SPORTS EXPANDS ITS GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION ACROSS 16 COUNTRIES IN ASIA
FOX International Channels renames all ESPN networks as FOX Sports Networks, launching the brand into over 100 million homes overnight.

Asia – January 29, 2013 – Sports fans in over 100 million households across 16 countries in Asia today switched on their television sets to welcome FOX SPORTS networks into their homes. FOX International Channels (FIC) Asia, News Corporation’s international multi-media business and Asia’s leading pay-TV network, 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, the world’s leading sports media brand, 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 the leading sports media brand in the US, Latin America and Europe. Now through the renaming, the brand has expanded into Asia significantly, making FOX SPORTS’ footprint truly global.

Going forward, FIC Asia will manage all the 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.

“The addition of FOX SPORTS further strengthens FOX International Channels Asia’s portfolio,” said Ward Platt, President of FOX International Channels, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. “FOX SPORTS is already the leading sports network in the US, UK, Australia, Latin America and Europe. We’ll leverage the brand’s leading position around the world to benefit the channel here in 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**.

Through this wide range of top quality international and regional sports action, FIC Asia with its FOX SPORTS networks will continue to deliver the most passionate audience in a captive environment and extend multiple opportunities to advertisers and affiliate partners alike.

Driven with a single-minded aim to deliver the most engaging sports experience through an innovative approach, FOX SPORTS is also launching the new sports news programme FOX SPORTS CENTRAL. 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. The new FOX SPORTS CENTRAL programme replaces the current program SportsCenter on ESPN and is aired on FOX SPORTS weeknights at 7:30pm HKT/SGT.

The new fan-focused initiatives will also include new programming blocks** such as the ‘Thursday Fight Night’, showcasing a variety of content from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and ‘ABL Friday Basketball’, featuring the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). In addition, FOX SPORTS will continue to offer its world-class expertise and sports coverage for Asian sports fans, with the broadcast of Sky Sports’ studio coverage of the key games of the Spanish Liga BBVA this season.**

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).

FOX SPORTS, along with its associate sports networks, is the world’s no. 1 sports media brand with the widest coverage across the USA, Latin America, Europe, Australia, Middle East and North Africa and Asia. It has a strong record of fan-centric innovations and unrivalled expertise in sports presentation, such as being the first to introduce on-screen time-clocks and scoreboards that revolutionized the way viewers enjoy LIVE sports.

* Please refer to the fact sheet for details

**Certain content available in select territories only.

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About FOX International Channels

FOX International Channels (FIC) is News Corporation’s international multi-media business. We develop, produce and distribute 350 wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, factual, sports and movie channels across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa, in 37 languages. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions reach over 1.1 billion households worldwide. We also operate a global online advertising unit .FOX (“dot-fox”) specialized in online video and display, and four TV production houses.

In Asia, FIC operates or distributes 33 channel brands, including the FOX, STAR and National Geographic brands, with over 100 feeds across 14 markets, As the leading pay-TV network in the region, FIC reaches more than 550 million cumulative subscribers across Asia Pacific and the Middle East with offices in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Australia, New Zealand and the UAE. For more information, please visit www.foxinternationalchannels.com.

For media inquiries please contact:

Kelly Jang
Director, Pan Regional Trade Marketing & PR
FOX International Channels Asia
Tel: +852 2621 8875
Email: kelly.jang@fox.com

Erin Yeh
Assistant Manager, Pan Regional Trade Marketing & PR
FOX International Channels Asia
Tel: +852 2621 9166
Email: erin.yeh@fox.com

Information is provided by member companies of CASBAA. CASBAA takes no responsibility for opinions and information contained in these news releases.

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