ESPN International

Last updated
ESPN International
Product type Television networks
Owner ESPN Inc.
(The Walt Disney Company 80%, Hearst Communications 20%)
Produced by Bill Rasmussen
Country United States
Introduced1983;41 years ago (1983)
MarketsAfrica
Asia
Brazil
Canada
Caribbean
Germany
Latin America
Middle East
Netherlands
Israel
Italy
Indian subcontinent
Japan
Oceania
Philippines
South Korea
United Kingdom
Previous owners Bill Rasmussen
Capital Cities/ABC

ESPN International is a family of sportscasting and production networks around the world. It was begun in 1983, is operated by ESPN Inc. and owned by The Walt Disney Company.

Contents

Current operations

Canada

TSN Logo.svg
RDS logo.svg
Logos of TSN (left) and RDS (right). Although these channels have kept their original brands after ESPN acquired part-ownership, they now have ESPN-style logos

ESPN International does not directly operate its own channels in Canada, but owns a 20 percent voting interest (and slightly larger equity interest) in CTV Specialty Television, a subsidiary of the Canadian media company Bell Media. Canadian regulations on the foreign ownership of broadcasters prohibit ESPN from acquiring majority interest.

Although these channels have retained their local brands (ESPN having acquired part-ownership several years after TSN and RDS launched), they adopted ESPN-style logos in 2001, and use other ESPN branding elements such as the SportsCentre title for TSN's sports highlights programs. CTV Specialty also operated a Canadian version of ESPN Classic from 2001 to 2023.

Through CTV Specialty, ESPN also has an indirect interest in Discovery Channel Canada and certain related channels operated in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery. These holdings date to CTV Specialty's previous incarnations as Labatt Communications and later as NetStar Communications, in which ESPN also held a minority interest. ESPN is not believed to have any involvement with the WBD-branded operations.

ESPN is also indirectly associated with TSN Radio, a brand used by several sports radio stations (each wholly owned by Bell Media), each of which also carries a limited amount of ESPN Radio programming.

Latin America

Spanish-speaking countries

  • ESPN North (Mexico, Central America and Dominican Republic) (2 feeds)
  • ESPN South (South America) (4 feeds)
  • ESPN2 North (Mexico, Central America and Dominican Republic) (2 feeds)
  • ESPN2 South (South America) (4 feeds)
  • ESPN3 North (Mexico, Central America and Dominican Republic)
  • ESPN3 South (South America) (2 feeds)
  • ESPN4 North (Mexico, Central America and Dominican Republic) (2 feeds)
  • ESPN4 South (South America)
  • ESPN5 Central America (Central America and Dominican Republic)
  • ESPN5 South (South America, except Argentina) (2 feeds)
  • ESPN6 (Central America, Dominican Republic and South America, except Argentina)
  • ESPN7 (South America, except Argentina)
  • ESPN Premium (Argentina and Chile) (2 feeds)
  • ESPN Extra (Argentina) (2 feeds)

Brazil

  • ESPN
  • ESPN2
  • ESPN3
  • ESPN4
  • ESPN5
  • ESPN6

Caribbean

  • ESPN
  • ESPN2
  • ESPN Extra

Netherlands

Oceania

Sub-Saharan Africa

Japan

Former operations

Asia-Pacific

In June 2012, News Corporation announced it would acquire ESPN's 50% stake in its joint venture ESPN Star Sports. [1] Following the takeover, ESPN in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia was relaunched as Fox Sports in January 2013, [2] while a version for Mainland China became Star Sports 2 in January 2014.

Canada

Europe

MENA and Israel

South Korea

Indian subcontinent

In January 2013, Star India acquired ESPN India from ESPN Star Sports, [3] but kept ESPN brand for a while. [4] ESPN International later established a partnership with what is now Sony Pictures Networks India in October 2015, and relaunched Sony Kix as Sony ESPN in January 2016. Sony ESPN was shut down in March 2020.

Germany

Philippines

United Kingdom

ESPN launched ESPN Classic in 2006. The company bought the North American Sports Network (NASN) in 2007, and renamed it ESPN America in 2009. Also in 2009, it launched the domestic network ESPN UK after securing rights to the Premier League. [5]

In February 2013, BT Group acquired ESPN's UK and Ireland television channel and remaining broadcasting contracts. Its domestic channel was re-branded as BT Sport ESPN, integrating it with the company's BT Sport channel group. In January 2015, BT Sport and ESPN reached a seven-year agreement to continue licensing ESPN's brand for the channel, as well as British rights to ESPN original programming and events whose international rights were owned by ESPN International. The agreement also allowed for joint digital media initiatives between the two companies. [6] [7] On 1 August 2022, after Warner Bros. Discovery acquired a 50% stake in BT Sport from BT Group, BT Sport ESPN was renamed BT Sport 4, [8] [9] and began to phase out its focus on U.S. sports. In November 2023, ESPN announced an agreement with Sky Sports to sub-license college football and basketball coverage. [10]

Related Research Articles

WTSN was a Canadian English language category 1 television channel owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc., a joint venture between Bell Globemedia (80%) and ESPN (20%). The channel broadcast sports programming featuring female athletes.

The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by CTV Specialty Television, owned jointly by Bell Media (70%) and ESPN Inc. (30%), itself a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. TSN was established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. In 2013, TSN was the largest specialty channel in Canada in terms of gross revenue, with a total of CA$400.4 million in revenue.

Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was required to divest its stake in the network following its 2001 acquisition of competing network TSN. Rogers then became the sole owner of Sportsnet in 2004 after it bought the remaining minority stake that was held by Fox.

Réseau des sports (RDS) is a Canadian French language discretionary specialty channel oriented towards sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc.. Its full name translates as "The Sports Network", the name of its Anglophone counterpart, TSN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ESPN Classic (Canadian TV channel)</span> Canadian sports TV channel (2001-2023)

ESPN Classic was a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc., a joint venture between Bell Media (80%) and ESPN (20%). Intended as the Canadian equivalent of the American channel of the same name, it broadcast a range of archive sports coverage, talk shows, documentaries and films.

ESPNews is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.

<i>TSN Hockey</i> Regional NHL broadcasts by Canadian sports channel TSN

TSN Hockey is the blanket title used by TSN's broadcasts of the National Hockey League.

ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by the Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder.

<i>CFL on TSN</i> Telecasts of the Canadian Football League

The CFL on TSN is TSN's presentation of the Canadian Football League. The Sports Network (TSN) has broadcast CFL games since the 1987 season and has been the exclusive broadcaster of all CFL games since 2008. While the CFL on TSN shows all CFL games, a more entertainment-focused Thursday Night Football telecast was added in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ESPN Classic</span> American television channel telecasting vintage sporting events (1995-2021)

ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.

Sports broadcasting contracts in Canada include:

Réseau des sports (RDS) is a French Canadian cable specialty channel that broadcasts National Hockey League games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TSN Radio</span> Canadian sports radio network

TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media. The TSN Radio brand, and some of the stations' content, are shared with Bell Media's television sports channel, The Sports Network. With the American sports media company ESPN being a minority shareholder in TSN, most of the stations also air some ESPN Radio programming, usually on weekends and/or overnight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TVA Sports</span> Canadian sports network

TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other French-language sports channel in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Hockey League on television</span> Overview of North American professional ice hockey on television

The National Hockey League (NHL) is shown on national television in the United States and Canada. With 25 teams in the U.S. and 7 in Canada, the NHL is the only one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada that maintains separate national broadcasters in each country, each producing separate telecasts of a slate of regular season games, playoff games, and the Stanley Cup Finals.

Star Sports Network is a group of Indian pay television sports channels owned by Network18 Group, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, the channel currently holds rights of flagship tournaments like Indian Premier League, ICC Events, Premier League, ONE Championship, Wimbledon etc.

References

  1. ↑ "News Corp. to Buy Out ESPN's Stake in Asian TV Venture". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Fox Sports buys ESPN'S Asia TV channels". Spin. 2013-01-09. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  3. ↑ "ESPN STAR Sports to be under STAR in India". Business Standard . January 28, 2013. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  4. ↑ Engineer, Tariq (31 January 2013). "As ESPN turns to Fox, expect more local Indian sports programming". Firstpost . Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  5. ↑ "ESPN snaps up Premier League TV packages". ESPNsoccernet. 22 June 2009. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "BT Sport and ESPN deepen relationship with long-term collaboration". BT plc. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "BT buys ESPN'S UK and Ireland TV channels". The Guardian. 25 February 2013. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  8. ↑ Metz, Axel (12 May 2022). "BT Sport subscribers to get major package upgrade completely free of charge". TechRadar. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  9. ↑ Frater, Patrick (2022-05-12). "Warner Bros. Discovery and BT to Launch Sports Venture in U.K. and Ireland". Variety. Archived from the original on 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
  10. ↑ "Sky Sports secures rights to show NCAA College Football and Basketball". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.