BWI: 2010 Formula One Season Expected to Reach Fever Pitch Across Asia as ESPN STAR Sports Flags off line-up of New Initiatives

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: ESPN STAR Sports
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 02:28 PM IST (08:58 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Entertainment, Sports; Business: Business services, Media & entertainment, Sports
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2010 Formula One Season Expected to Reach Fever Pitch Across Asia as ESPN STAR Sports Flags off line-up of New Initiatives
Return of Michael Schumacher to Mercedes GP PETRONAS, New Malaysian Lotus Racing Team, Inaugural Korean GP and Indian Driver Karun Chandhok hype up another Compelling F1 Season

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Wednesday, March 10, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- The Formula One on ESPN STAR Sports is well set to draw huge interest from Asian fans yet again with many new developments that highlight the sport's growing prominence and popularity leading up to the inaugural race of 2010, with the Bahrain Grand Prix flagging off this weekend live on STAR Sports.

The sport looks to receive a major boost with aficionados keenly anticipating the return of the most successful F1 driver in Michael Schumacher. The seven-time world champion recently came out of retirement to join Mercedes GP PETRONAS and is expected to be a major draw for viewers in 2010. In addition, motorsport fans across the region would be looking forward to the addition of a seventh Grand Prix venue in Asia with the inaugural Korean Grand Prix in October, increasing the calendar to 19 races with the return of the Canadian Grand Prix after a one-year hiatus.

The introduction of the new Malaysian-backed Lotus F1 Racing would also garner interest in Malaysia, which drew nearly 3.5 million viewers to STAR Sports' comprehensive F1 coverage in 2009. In addition, the recent announcement of former ESPN STAR Sports race commentator Karun Chandhok joining the new Hispania Racing team have sent ripples across India as the second Indian driver to compete in Formula One. This, in addition to the steady rise of the Force India team last year, will be sure to give more than 22.6 million viewers in the Indian sub-continent plenty to cheer about this season.

Matching these major developments, fans can expect ESPN STAR Sports to showcase the 2010 F1 season by delivering extensive coverage of all live qualifying sessions and main races across its television, online and mobile platforms:

-- World-class television coverage: STAR Sports will showcase exclusive live television coverage of all 19 live qualifying sessions and main races in 2010, and will broadcast more than 600 hours of Formula One content in 2010 with comprehensive coverage on its pre and post-race programme, Race Day and Chequered Flag hosted by Paula Malai Ali and Steve Dawson. To bolster its F1 coverage, former Jordan Grand Prix chief designer and technical director Gary Anderson will add his unrivalled technical expertise to the LIVE commentary team comprising veteran race commentator Steve Slater and ex-F1 driver Alex Yoong.

Another draw would be the F1 broadcast in High-Definition for the first time in Malaysia on ESPN HD. This would be a major attraction for viewers longing to catch the ultimate motorsport championship in unparalleled image and enhanced sound quality, and will be rolled out in other markets where there is demand.

-- Live and authoritative online coverage and video content on www.espnstar.com: Fans can also visit http://www.espnstar.com/motorsport/f1 for online F1 coverage on PETRONAS Live Race Centre featuring lap-by-lap live race coverage and commentary; online video highlights from the races as well as insightful columns by STAR Sports' presenters and F1 experts.

-- Live races, news & updates on-the-go: Fans in India can catch the Formula One races live on the mobile platform on mobileESPN. For the first time, fans in Indonesia can look forward to catching the Formula One live races on the mobile platform on mobileESPN. In addition, motorsport aficionados across Asia can get Formula One mobile content on the go from mobileESPN, in the form of news, results, driver standings, team standings and the race calendar in English, Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia.

-- F1 Fantasy Online Game: Fans can also visit www.espnstar.com to take part in the F1 Fantasy game and win attractive prizes, as well as a new online game predicting the winners of each race.

As ESPN STAR Sports enters its 19th year showcasing the Formula One on its networks, 2010 also sees the continued long-term relationship with PETRONAS as STAR Sports Formula One partner. STAR Sports' coverage of the F1 drew significant audiences in Asia last year with 53 million in-home viewers* across its broadcast footprint.

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-TV 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 over 300 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 19 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN SEA, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN SEA 2, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports SEA, STAR Sports SEA 2, STAR Sports Taiwan, STAR Cricket, ESPNEWS and ESPN HD.

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 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 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.


CONTACT DETAILS
Nancy Agnihotri, Asst. Manager - Corporate Communications, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd, +91 (124) 4147777, nancya@espnstar.co.in
Aparna Srivastava, IPAN Hill & Knolwton, +91 9811234594, asrivastava@ipanhillandknowlton.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS, BUSINESS SERVICES, MEDIA

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