MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports (ESS), Asia‘s leading sports broadcast network, has signed new carriage deals for its cricket dedicated channel Star Cricket in the Philippines and Indonesia, highlighting its expanding footprint beyond traditional cricket markets.

In addition, with a new carriage deal for Star Cricket recently secured in Indonesia, cricket fans across the country can anticipate the channel to being available very soon.

Launched in 2007 in the Indian sub-continent, Star Cricket has continued to expand in non-traditional cricket markets over the years with presence in South East Asian markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, the Maldives and now the Philippines.

ESS also successfully launched Star Cricket HD in July last year in key markets across Asia such as India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Singapore.

ESPN Star Sports MD Peter Hutton said, "We‘re delighted to be able to help the ICC grow the game worldwide, and to see Star Cricket increase its popularity across Asia."

Star Cricket features international cricket events across all formats of the game and its line-up of cricket properties includes the marquee International Cricket Council (ICC) events, international and domestic cricket from India, Australia and England and Champions League Twenty20.

In addition, it also showcased the inaugural edition of the Sri Lankan Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League earlier this year.

MUMBAI: ESPN Star Sports, the media rights holder for all International Cricket Council events till 2015, has closed a significant broadcast rights deal in Australia with Fox Sports and Channel Nine. The two Australian broadcasters will provide live coverage of every major ICC event from 2012 to 2015, including the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Fox Sports will provide live coverage of each tournament during the three-year agreement, including every match of the 2012 and 2014 ICC World T20 events, plus every match in the 2013 Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

Channel Nine will bring free-to-air viewers the action from all the big games in the 2012 and 2014 World T20 tournaments and again for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 on home soil.

The agreement covers 2012 and 2014 ICC World Twenty20, 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and, world cricket‘s premier event, the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Fox Sports CEO Patrick Delany said, "We are delighted to be partnering with Channel Nine and the ICC and are looking forward to delivering live and high definition coverage of all major international cricket tournaments to complement our exclusive coverage of Australia‘s international tours and national competitions including the KFC T20 Big Bash League.

"Last year we delivered an immersive Rugby World Cup experience, going beyond the live match coverage to tell the entire story of the tournament through our presence in and around the venues, fans, and Wallabies camp in New Zealand. The 2015 Cricket World Cup will be the biggest cricket event to hit our shores in over 20 years and we plan to offer fans the complete package."

Channel Nine MD Jeffrey Browne, said: "Nine‘s Wide World of Sports and big-time cricket are synonymous and to ultimately have the 2015 ICC World Cup played at home in Australia as part of this new deal is both a challenge and celebration we very much look forward to."

ESPN Star Sports Managing Director Peter Hutton, "We are delighted that we are able to extend our long term relationship with Fox Sports in Australia as we ensure that the ICC events are seen by cricket fans throughout the world. We look forward to the next ICC Cricket World Cup being the most watched cricket event in the history of the sport, and thank Fox for their support."

ICC General Manager - Commercial Campbell Jamieson said, "The ICC is delighted to have the continued support of major Australian broadcasters Fox Sports and the Nine Network for its events. These partnerships will ensure that fans in Australia continue to enjoy top quality broadcast coverage from premier cricket events, including the ICC Cricket World Cup, which will take place in Australia and New Zealand."

MUMBAI: Delhi-based Sportzworkz and Greymatter Entertainment have got production mandate for the production of inaugural edition of Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL).

The duo will be responsible for producing all the 24 matches besides the opening ceremony.

ESPN Star Sports holds the multi-platform rights for the T20 league that will feature seven teams namely Ruhuna Royals, the Kandurata Warriors, the Basnahira Cricket Dundees, the Nagenahira Nagas, Uva Next, Wayamba United and Uthura Rudras.

The season will run from 10 August to 31 August. The first match of the day will be played generally at 4 pm IST while the second match will begin at approximately 8 pm IST.

Speaking on the tie-up, ESS MD Peter Hutton said, ?I?m very happy to see top Indian production companies Sportzworkz and Greymatter entrusted with the live telecast and look forward to enjoying the quality of their work on our channels.?

Somerset Entertainment Ventures chairman Sandip Bhammer said, ?We are delighted to have Sportzworkz & Greymatter as the SLPL?s TV production partners. We aim to deliver a very high-quality viewership experience in respect of the SLPL globally, and in particular, on television.?

Sportzworkz has worked with events like Aircel Chennai Open 2011-2012, Indian Open Badminton 2012, India International Grand Prix Wrestling 2012, Jharkhand Premier League Cricket 2011 and Super Fight League 2012.

Greymatter specialises in sports, non-fiction and youth content, its project catalogue includes over 500 hours of IPL programming, Pepsi?s Change the Game around the ICC Cricket World Cup, Grammy Awards shows, MTV?s Captain?s Shack and a Formula One reality show involving Lewis Hamilton.

MUMBAI: Peter Hutton, former chief operating officer of Taj Television, will head the new sports division set up by Fox International Channels (FIC) and Fox Sports Media Group.

Effective immediately, the new venture will have Hutton join as FIC Sports senior VP.

FIC Sports now manages the syndication of Fox Sports content worldwide. Its mission is to centralise Fox‘s wide-array of international sports interests under one group in an effort to increase revenues through syndication and to support News Corp‘s sports activities and worldwide strategies.

Hutton reports to FIC president and CEO Hernan Lopez, and is supported by sales executive Zoe Duffelen.

Lopez said, ?As FIC enters the sports syndication business, we are thrilled that an executive of Peter?s caliber has joined the company. Combining his extensive experience in dealing with international sports television rights and the creative eye of a television producer, Peter is uniquely qualified to lead this new endeavour.?

Most recently Hutton was a partner and director at roadreach Media, a consultancy firm that advised clients such as FIC, Sportsband Media Group and Willow Cricket.

 
Hutton was part of the team that launched Taj Television in Dubai. Rising to the role of COO in 2009, he played an instrumental role in acquiring key rights for the broadcast territory such as the 2002 World Cup, UEFA Champions League, U.S. Open tennis, international cricket, and world hockey rights.

Ten Sports, the channel owned by Taj Television, is available in more than 60 million homes.

Before moving into television management, Hutton spent most of his career on the production and creative side of the business. From 1988 to 1993, he was a television commentator for Sky Television, ITV, and the BBC in the UK where he covered sports news and other sports programming, including the first years of the English Premiership football and live Bundesliga football.

In 1993,. Hutton joined Trans World International as the first producer of the magazine show ‘Futbol Mundial‘. He also bought, produced and distributed soccer content worldwide, eventually running the company?s office in India which produced and directed a variety of shows from Indian cricket to the Bollywood awards.

Hutton began his entertainment career as a radio reporter in 1982, and at the time, was the youngest reporter to have a lead story on the national news and the youngest sports editor in British radio at Radio Aire in Leeds.

In addition to Hutton and Duffelen, two US based executives contribute to the FIC Sports team. Peter Marco, VP of business & legal affairs, oversees the division?s business, legal and strategy needs, while Josh Oakley, director of acquisitions, manages rights acquisitions and coordinates operational needs.