Fall 2009
FACT SHEET
ESPN International is a division of ESPN, Inc. ESPN International has grown to include ownership — in whole or in part — of 46 television networks outside of the United States, as well as a variety of brand extension businesses, which allow ESPN to reach fans in over 200 countries and territories. ESPN International business entities include television, radio, print, internet, broadband, wireless, consumer products, and event management. ESPN International and its holdings maintain offices or production facilities in key locations around the world including Bangalore, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Miami, Montpellier, Mumbai, Paris, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan, and Toronto. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN. The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with four business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer products.
GEORGE BODENHEIMER
George Bodenheimer was named ESPN’s fifth President on November 19, 1998. On March 3, 2003, he was also appointed President of ABC Sports, overseeing all the multimedia sports assets of The Walt Disney Company. The role of co-chairman, Disney Media Networks was added on April 20, 2004. Bodenheimer serves on the boards of NCTA (The National Cable Telecommunications Association), Cable in the Classroom, and The V Foundation for Cancer Research, among others.
RUSSELL WOLFF
As Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Russell Wolff is responsible for all of ESPN’s businesses outside of the United States. He is based in New York and reports directly to George Bodenheimer. Wolff serves on the boards of ESPN STAR Sports, CTV Specialty Television, Inc., ESPN Classic Sport, and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
ESPN INTERNATIONAL PRIMARY BUSINESS ENTITIES
Television: 46 networks serving over 200 countries and territories across all seven continents in 16 languages (Cantonese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Malay, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Spanish and Turkish).
Program Syndication: A diverse library containing over 130 leagues and sports, with broadcast partners in 200 countries.
Radio: Broadcasting in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Offers a combination of live events, sports news and information, and sports talk.
Mobile ESPN: Currently available globally in 10 languages, and on more 1000 handsets. In Asia, ESS launched Mobile ESPN in May 2005.
Internet: ESPNsoccernet.com (worldwide), available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish; ESPNdeportes.com (Latin American and U.S.A), ESPNCricinfo.com; ESPNscrum.com; racing-live.com; ESPNSTAR.com;.(China), ESPN.com.br (Brazil), ESPNSTAR.com (Asia), ESPNSTAR.com.tw (Taiwan); TSN.ca (Canada); ESPNClassic.com (Europe); ESPNAmerica.com (Europe); ESPN.com.au (Australia).
Broadband: ESPN360.com is ESPN’s broadband content platform, delivering live video streaming and video-on-demand through the Internet. First launched in the United States in 2005, there are currently versions of the service in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Europe.
Consumer Products: ESPN and X Games branded consumer products, including apparel, Moto X bikes, skateboards, backpacks, books, and DVDs now available in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan, Australia, UK and Italy. In 2008, ESPN launched the Santander ESPN Credit Card in Mexico, the company’s first branded credit card outside the U.S.
Publishing: In 2006, ESPN distributed its first Spanish-language book in Latin America titled Hablemos de Fútbol. In 2007, ESPN launched its first Spanish-language edition of ESPN The Magazine in Mexico.
Event Management: X Games, the world’s premier action sports competition, is staged throughout the world. In addition to the two U.S.-based events, ESPN has held X Games competitions and demonstration events around the world including Brazil, China, Dubai, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Spain and Thailand.
Advertising Sales: Offers exclusive advertising and sponsorship opportunities across all of ESPN's multimedia platforms around the world.
SPORTS NETWORKS
Asia
ESPN SEA
ESPN China
ESPN Hong Kong
ESPN India
ESPN Malaysia
ESPN Taiwan
MBC-ESPN (Korea)
STAR Sports China
STAR Sports Hong Kong
STAR Sports India
STAR Sports Malaysia
STAR Sports Southeast Asia
STAR Cricket
STAR Thailand
ESPN Philippines*
ESPN SEA (NPL)*
STAR Sports SEA (NPL)*
STAR Sports Taiwan*
Canada
TSN (The Sports Network)
TSN2
RDS
RIS
ESPN Classic
NHL Network
Europe
ESPN (United Kingdom)
ESPN Classic (United Kingdom)
ESPN Classic (France)
ESPN Classic (Italy)
ESPN Classic (Europe)
ESPN America (Europe)
Latin America
ESPN+ (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay)
ESPN+ (Andina)
ESPN 2
ESPN 2 (Mexico)
ESPN Brasil
ESPN Latin Brazil
ESPN Latin North
ESPN Latin South
ESPN Latin America Caribbean
ESPN2 Caribbean
ESPN HD (Brazil)
Middle East /Africa
ESPN Middle East
ESPN Israel
ESPN South Africa
ESPN Israel
ESPN South Africa
ESPN Classic (South Africa and Middle East)
ESPN America
Pacific Rim
ESPN Australia
ESPN Pacific Rim (New Zealand and Pacific Islands)
J Sports ESPN (Japan)
ESPN HD Australia
*denotes commercial streams (not considered networks)
SPORTSCENTER
ESPN’s award-winning flagship news and information program SportsCenter has been adapted and customized into 13 local versions in 8 different languages (English, Cantonese, Malay, Hindi, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Spanish) for key markets such as Asia, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, Latin America, Malaysia, Mexico, Africa, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Where Can I Watch SportsCenter
The 13 original versions of SportsCenter can be seen:
- ESPN’s pan-regional network in Latin America (Spanish)
- ESPN+ serving the Southern cone of Latin America (Spanish)
- ESPN 2 serving Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean (Spanish)
- ESPN Brasil (Portuguese)
- TSN Canada (English)
- ESS pan-Asia (English)
- ESS India (Hindi)
- ESS Hong Kong (Cantonese)
- ESS Taiwan (Mandarin)
- J Sports ESPN (Japanese)
- ESS (Malaysia)
- ESPN Atlantic (Africa, Middle East) (English)
- ESPN Australia and New Zealand (English)
PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS
Soccer
2010 FIFA World Cup (Brazil, India)
2010 World Cup Qualifiers
Barclay's Premier League (U.K.)
UEFA Champions League (Brazil & Oceania)
The UEFA Europa League
Italian Serie A
Italian Super Coppa
English Premier League
F.A. Cup
German Bundesliga
Spanish League
Copa do Brasil
Carling Cup (Brazil)
Coppa Italia (Brazil)
Dutch First Division
Russian League
Clydesdale Bank Premier League
Portuguese League
Golf
Masters
PGA Championship
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
PGA Tour (Players and Fed-Ex Cup playoff events)
World Golf Championships
LPGA
Tennis
ATP 1000 Series
Australian Open
Roland Garros
Wimbledon
U.S. Open Tennis Championships
U.S. Open Series
U.S. Pro Leagues
National Basketball Association
National Football League
Major League Baseball
National Hockey League
WNBA
Major League Soccer
Motor Racing
IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500
Formula One
NASCAR (Sprint Cup & Nationwide Series)
And...
X Games
Euroleague Basketball
Strike Force Mixed Martial Arts
NCAA Men’s & Women’s Basketball Championships
College Football (regular season, Conference Championships and College Bowls)
Rugby World Cup 2011
U.S. Figure Staking Championships
IAAF Track and Field
Ironman Triathlon
Boston Marathon
World Baseball Classic
Caribbean Baseball Series
Mexican League Baseball
Mexican Pacific Baseball
Venezuelan League Baseball
Little League World Series
Heineken Cup Rugby
Tour de France and Vuelta a España
ICC Cricket World Cup
World Series of Poker (Las Vegas/Europe)
Argentine Polo Open
Boxing
Belmont Stakes
The Breeders Cup
Studio Shows Includes:
NBA Fastbreak
Juego Cruzado
Fuera de Juego (soccer discussion)
Fora de Jogo (Portuguese-language soccer discussion show)
Cronómetro (fast-paced, sports discussion)
E Rapidinho (Portuguese-language version of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption)
ESPN Perfiles (profiles of Latin American sports personalities)
PTI Australia (Fast-paced, sports discussion)
NFL Esta Noche (NFL Tonight)
ESPN Radio Formula (Leading AM/FM radio network in Mexico)
SportsCenter Primera Plana (sports headlines)
Simplemente Fútbol (soccer discussion)
NFL Semanal (NFL weekly)
Béisbol Esta Noche (Baseball Tonight)
Fútbol Picante (Mexican soccer)
SportsCenter Headliners
ESPN Soccernet Press Pass
Linha de Passe (sports discussion)
Bate Bola (soccer discussion)
Bola da Vez (athlete interviews)
Juca Entrevista (studio interview show)
E S P N A R O U N D T H E W O R L D
ASIA
ESPN STAR Sports— In November 1996, ESPN, Inc. entered into a 50:50 joint venture with STAR TV in Asia called ESPN STAR Sports. ESPN’s joint venture with STAR reaches 310 million viewers in Asia, through 17 networks covering 24 countries, each localized to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. Key programming includes English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Formula One, Wimbledon, NBA, and Major League Baseball. ESS produces five local editions of SportsCenter, customized for viewers in India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Southeast Asia. ESS maintains three leading sports sites: espnstar.com (Asia), espnstar.com.tw (Taiwan), and espnstar.com.cn (China), which are offered in English, Taiwanese, and Mandarin, respectively. In 1998, the first Asian X Games Asia was held, taking place in Phuket Thailand and again at the same venue in 2001.From 2002-2004, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was home to the Asian X Games. In 2005, the X Games made its South Korean debut in Seoul returning to Kuala Lumpur as X Games Asia in 2006.On 3-6 May 2006, X Games Asia were held for the first time in China, with Shanghai playing host to Asia’s most prestigious multi-event action sports competition.
ESPN merged its sports network in Japan – Sports-iESPN - with J SPORTS Broadcasting Corporation to form four new sports channels, including J Sports ESPN. The four channels have the largest sports television audience reach in Japan, approximately 6,550,000 households. ESPN delivers action sports content to fans across Japan via
X Games Mobile, a service that includes official X Games news, information, wallpapers, and ringtones, as well as mobile video content from the X Games and Winter X Games.
AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND
In Australia, ESPN offers a diverse portfolio of major sporting events, as well as locally-relevant content such as SportsCenter, Pardon the Interruption Australia, Legends of Cricket, and A Question of Sport. ESPN launched an HD service in May 2008.
CANADA
Through its equity interest in CTV Specialty
Television, Inc., ESPN has five sports networks televised in Canada: TSN, RDS, ESPN Classic, NHL Network, and RIS Info Sports. TSN was established in 1984 as the first national 24- hour, all-sports TV network in Canada. It is the official broadcaster of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and London 2012 Games of the Olympiad, TSN, a division of CTVglobemedia, is Canada's Sports Leader and Canada’s most-watched specialty network. TSN's comprehensive broadcast schedule features an exciting lineup of sports including NHL, IIHF, CFL, NFL, NBA, Blue Jays Baseball, Season of Champions Curling, Golf’s Majors, F1, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Grand Slam Tennis, Championship Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts events. TSN properties include TSN2, TSN MOBILE and the industry leading sports website TSN.ca. TSN delivers more sports coverage in High Definition than any other network in Canada RDS is the only sports network in the world that broadcasts entirely in French, 24-hours a day. ESPN Classic was launched September 7, 2001. The network features great individual performances, controversial victories, huge upsets, momentous comebacks and unforgettable team dynasties. NHL Network, launched October 4, 2001 is the definitive hockey destination. NHL Network offers viewers a 24-hour all-access pass to complete hockey coverage both on and off the ice, including live NHL games, the NHL All-Star Game, NHL Stanley Cup Final and NHL Entry Draft. Additional NHL Network programming includes live NCAA hockey, action from the American Hockey League and ECHL, as well as international and amateur hockey, player profiles, interview shows and youth-oriented programs.
EUROPE
On 22 June, ESPN was awarded the exclusive rights to 46 Live Barclays Premier League matches in the 2009-10 Season and 23 matches a season from 2010-2013. ESPN has also been awarded exclusive live rights to Clydesdale Bank Premier League games for the next five seasons, showing 30 live games each season across the UK and Ireland, UEFA Europa League and games from the German, Dutch, Russian and Portuguese national football leagues. ESPN has also secured multiyear UK and Ireland rights to air the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Top 14 Orange (French Rugby Championship), the Australian Football League (AFL), the NBA.
In 2002, ESPN launched its first branded television channel in Europe, ESPN Classic. ESPN Classic is currently available in 23 million households in over 43 countries across Europe and can be seen in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish and Dutch. ESPN Classic became ESPN’s first dedicated sports channel in the United Kingdom when it launched in 2006. ESPN Classic was launched a Middle East and Africa feed in May 2008, reaching a further 2 million subscribers. In February 2007, ESPN acquired NASN, the only European network dedicated to North American sports. The name of the network was re-branded to ESPN America in February 2009. The network airs over 800 live and as-live sports events each year, including those from the National Hockey League, the National Football League, Major League Baseball and NCAA. ESPN America is available in 14 million households, in over 43 European countries. ESPN America launched a Middle East feed in June 2008, reaching a further 500,000 subscribers in 19 countries across the Gulf.
ESPN operates a robust syndication business, offering a variety of programming including NASCAR, IndyCar, X Games, ESPN’s Big Fights Library (featuring classic heavyweight bouts), and ESPN original programming. ESPN supplies programming to leading European outlets such as the BBC, BSkyB, TVE, and Canal Plus.U.K.-based ESPNsoccernet.com continues to be one of the most popular football websites in the world, reaching over four million unique users a month in more than 100 countries with the latest football news, scores and features. The site is available in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. In June 2007, ESPN acquired Cricinfo.com - the world's leading cricket website. Cricinfo.com now reaches more than seven million users every month and it is ranked number one in all of its major markets. In August 2007, ESPN acquired Scrum.com - a leading rugby news, scores and information portal. Scrum.com has established a strong and growing presence among worldwide rugby fans since its inception in 1997.In August 2008, ESPN acquired Racing-Live.com - the world’s leading independent motor racing website. The site provides fans around the world locally tailored news and information in English, French, Japanese, Italian, German and Spanish. Racing-Live.com has earned a devoted fan base of three million unique users per month.
LATIN AMERICA
Launched in 1989, ESPN’s pan-regional Latin America network transmits in Spanish, Portuguese, and English to 42 countries and territories and is currently available in over 20 million homes in the region. ESPN also offers regional networks: ESPN 2 (Mexico and the northern cone); ESPN+ (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay); ESPN+ Andina; ESPN Brasil; ESPN2 Caribbean serving English-speaking fans in the Caribbean. In April 2009, ESPN launched ESPN HD in Brazil, the company’s first channel available in HD in region.
ESPN syndicates content to radio outlets in ten countries and maintains three popular sports websites—ESPNdeportes.com, one of the leading Spanish-language Web sites in Latin America, ESPN.com.br, which is offered in Portuguese for users in Brazil and ESPNsoccernet.com. Additionally, ESPN is responsible for ad sales and affiliate sales representation of the Walt Disney Television International Latin America.
MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA
ESPN reaches 70 countries in the Middle East and Africa via the leading operators in the region, ART which serves the Middle East and Multichoice which serves Sub-Saharan Africa. ESPN also offers a separately programmed network for viewers in Israel, where ESPN is available to more than 90% of all television households.
DOCUMENT COURTESY OF ESPN, INC.
COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Bristol: ESPN Plaza, Bristol, CT USA 06010
Phone: (860) 766-2000 or (212) 456-0265
Fax: (212) 456-0229
If urgent and after hours call 860-766-2000
for the publicist on duty.