BWI: ESPN STAR Sports’ Manu Sawhney features in the Top Ten list of Sportcal’s Poll: ‘20 Years of Sport: Who was Most Influential’ for his contributions to the growth of Sports Broadcasting

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: ESPN STAR Sports
Monday, May 16, 2011 01:49 PM IST (08:19 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Sports; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Media & entertainment, Sports
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ESPN STAR Sports' Manu Sawhney features in the Top Ten list of Sportcal's Poll: '20 Years of Sport: Who was Most Influential' for his contributions to the growth of Sports Broadcasting
Managing Director of Asia's biggest sport content provider is the only Asian to feature in the first ever global poll

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Monday, May 16, 2011 -- (Business Wire India) -- Manu Sawhney, Managing Director of ESPN STAR Sports, has been voted into the top ten list of Sportcal's poll on the most influential sports executive over the last two decades.

Sportcal.com is widely recognised as the leading online publication for the global sports market, and the accolade highlights the significance of Manu's contributions to the growth of sport broadcasting industry in Asia, where he played a critical role in developing the pay-tv industry and key sports' franchises when it was still at a nascent stage to a vibrant industry with robust growth today. In addition, Manu has played a very important role in further developing the game of cricket globally on back of global acquisitions of some of the most significant cricket events such as the ICC Tournaments and Champions League T20 which under his leadership have been very successfully distributed and syndicated across the globe.

For this first of its kind global poll, organized by Sportcal, voters from across the globe could nominate any sports industry leader of the past 20 years, alive or dead, from organisations such as sports agencies, sports federations, government departments, leagues, teams, broadcasters, sponsors, service companies, events organisers, sports cities etc. According to the results of Sportcal's poll '20 Years of Sport: Who Was the Most Influential?', Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former International Olympic Committee president who passed on last year, was the most influential sports executive of the last 20 years.

As per the Sportcal Poll, the top 10 were: McCormack, the founder of IMG; Sepp Blatter, president of Fifa, soccer's world governing body; Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula 1 motor racing impresario; Jacques Rogge, the current President of IOC; Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, a pioneer in the field of pay-television sport; Lennart Johansson, the long-time former president of UEFA, European soccer's governing body; George Bodenheimer, the president of ESPN, the pioneering US cable sports broadcaster owned by Walt Disney; Manu Sawhney, the managing director of ESPN Star Sports, the pan-Asian sports broadcaster; and Patrick Nally, the sports sponsorship guru.

Said Manu, the only Asian to make into this illustrious list, "I'm heartened to have been involved in the growth of sports broadcasting in this highly diverse Asian market. The business of sports broadcasting in Asia continues to be full of challenges, and yet its potential for growth and innovation remains compelling. This recognition is a testament to the commitment and passion of every member of the ESS team, and the can-do spirit of the organization."

"Serving the fan continues to be our foremost objective and with our various multi-platform offerings aimed at enhancing the overall experience of sports fans, we are better placed than ever today to further build upon the strong equity we enjoy with the sports fans across the region."

Nominating Manu, one of the respondents, said, "Manu has played an important role in the growth and development of the sports broadcasting industry in Asia on back of setting up and growing ESPN STAR Sports India to No. 1 position, long terms deals with various rights holders across the globe that have helped in growth of these properties in Asia over last 15 years or so. Launch of new innovative multiple platforms taking sports beyond traditional TV. Securing global rights for ICC, a first of its kind initiative ever done in Asia and focus on creating record in-house original programming".

Manu, who has been with ESPN STAR Sports since its inception in 1996, rose through the ranks and supervised various major key posts in the company and served as the Managing Director of ESPN STAR Sports India and Executive Vice President of Programming and Marketing, Asia before becoming the Managing Director of ESPN STAR Sports Asia in September 2007.

Under his direction, ESS quickly expanded its reach with several ground-breaking new networks and services across multiple platforms such as ESPN HD, which broadcasts a stellar list of premium sports, the first 24/7 sports news channel specially dedicated to Asian sports fans in ESPNEWS, the revolutionary broadband service ESPN Player, which provides consumers with live and on-demand access to international, world class sports anytime and anywhere, and introducing the new 3G mobile offering Mobile ESPN that showcases a linear 24/7 mobile channel featuring live and on-demand sports content. Today ESS reaches out to over 300 million viewers across through its 21 television networks and 2 broadband networks across 24 countries in Asia.

ESPN STAR Sports recently enjoyed the successful broadcast of the ICC Cricket World Cup, as ICC's exclusive global broadcast and production partner, and will be gearing up towards showcasing the 2012 Summer Olympics in London next year, with more than 200 hours of coverage, including the opening and closing ceremonies.

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 biggest sports content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its parent companies - Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) - to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to fans across multiple platforms.

ESPN STAR Sports features a comprehensive portfolio of multimedia assets including its television networks (ESPN, STAR Sports, STAR Cricket, ESPNEWS, ESPN HD), broadband network (ESPN Player), digital content services (espnstar.com, mobileESPN), and its on-ground Event Management Group with the aim to engage and entertain sports fans anytime, anyplace.

ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier sports from around the globe featuring some of the most iconic sports events to a cumulative reach of over 300 million viewers in Asia through its 21 television networks and 2 broadband network, each localized to deliver differentiated programming to meet diverse needs of Asian sports fans.


CONTACT DETAILS
Sameer Bajaj, Associate Director - Corporate Communications, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd., +91 (124) 4147777/ +91 9811222700, sameerb@espnstar.co.in

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, SPORTS, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, MEDIA

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