Country | China |
---|---|
Broadcast area |
|
Network | Fox Sports Asia |
Headquarters | Hong Kong SAR, China |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 480i/576i for the SDTV feed) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific (Disney International Operations) |
Sister channels | Mainland China: Star Movies National Geographic |
History | |
Launched |
|
Closed | October 1, 2021 |
Replaced by | SPOTV (South Korea) |
Former names |
|
Links | |
Website | global |
Star Sports is an East Asian pay television sports channel broadcast to Mainland China and formerly South Korea, operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia). It was previously part of the Fox Sports operations in East and Southeast Asia, but this version retained Star Sports name; ESPN Mainland China was instead renamed Star Sports 2.
Hong Kong-based Star TV launched Prime Sports (later renamed Star Sports) in partnership with American company TCI, which owned Prime-branded regional sports channels. The channel was broadcast across Asia, as with the footprint of AsiaSat 1. Star TV have since regionalised the channel with a number of versions, including a dedicated version for Taiwan. Later, ESPN have joined in the region as a competitor to Star Sports.
In October 1996, ESPN and Star Sports have agreed to combine their operations across Asia. [1] As a result, a joint venture named, ESPN Star Sports was formed, to be headquartered in Singapore. [2]
In June 2012, it was announced that News Corporation would buy ESPN International's share in ESPN Star Sports. [3] [4] Following the News Corporation take over, ESPN all over Asia would be relaunched as Fox Sports but the relaunch of ESPN Star Sports as Fox Sports did not affect much of East Asia, as Star Sports continued to broadcast in Mainland China and South Korea kept the brand, and instead, the version of ESPN for Mainland China was renamed as Star Sports 2 on 10 January 2014. [5] [6]
Alongside 16 other channels owned by Disney, Star Sports 2 was shut down on October 1, 2021, while Star Sports China mainly used ESPN USA feed. [7]
Sporting events covered by Star Sports include:
Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific, was a Hong Kong-based commercial broadcasting company operating multiple specialty television channels. The company was founded in 1991 by Hong Kong businessman Richard Li.
Fox Sports is a Mexican pay television network operated by Grupo Multimedia Lauman. The network focuses on sports-related programming including live and pre-recorded event broadcasts, sports talk shows and original programming, available throughout Mexico. The network was previously based in Los Angeles with production studios in Argentina and Mexico. The network continues to use the Fox Sports name under a license agreement with Fox Corporation.
Fox Sports Australia Pty Limited is the division of Foxtel that owns and operates the Fox Sports television networks and digital properties in Australia. The group operates nine Fox Sports Channels as well as Fox Sports News, Fox Cricket, Fox League, Fox Footy, Watch AFL and Watch NRL. Fox Sports channels such as Fox Netball are available via Foxtel or Kayo. The group's main competitors are beIN Sports, ESPN, Optus Sport and Stan Sport. Unlike The American Fox Sports, the group is not owned directly by the Fox Corporation. However News Corp which holds a 65% stake in Foxtel is Fox Corporation's sister company.
ESPN is the Brazilian division of ESPN Inc. Launched in March 1989 as Canal+, it was the first country-specific version of ESPN outside the United States, launched in June 1995. The channel has covered major sporting events, like the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics; the 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 1999, 2003 and 2007 Pan-American Games. High ratings and prestige in the segment have been marks of the channel; it also won the APCA award twice, in 1995 for "Best Sports Programming" and in 1998 for "Best Coverage of the 1998 FIFA World Cup".
Basketball is the most popular sport overall in Asia. Cricket is the second most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include association football, baseball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the South Asian sports kabaddi and kho-kho, and sepak takraw in Southeast Asia. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
There are several sports broadcasting contracts in Australia.
Sports broadcasting contracts in Canada include:
This is a list of sports events in South America, showing the companies holding broadcasting rights under contract. Companies with rights to a wide range of sports.
In the United States, sports are televised on various broadcast networks, national and specialty sports cable channels, and regional sports networks. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44 percent of the total worldwide sports media market. U.S. networks are willing to pay a significant amount of money for television sports contracts because it attracts large amounts of viewership; live sport broadcasts accounted for 44 of the 50 list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States in 2016.
Sports broadcasting contracts in New Zealand include:
These are the sports broadcasting contracts in the Philippines. There are four primary local producers of sport programs in the country: Solar Sports, TAP Sports, GMA Network, and TV5/Cignal TV.
Fox Sports Asia was a pan-Asian pay television network broadcasting in Asia, operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company Pte. Ltd. It also oversaw a version of Star Sports available in Mainland China and South Korea. Originally launched in early 1990s as Star Sports and ESPN by Satellite Television Asian Region and ESPN International respectively, both parties agreed to combine their operations in Asia in October 1996. News Corporation took the full control of the venture in 2012, and relaunched the channels in two phases in January 2013 and August 2014, respectively.
ESPN Caribbean is the local division of ESPN Inc., that broadcasts in most Caribbean countries. Operated as part of the ESPN International division, the service is composed of ESPN and ESPN2; both were launched in 2007.
SPOTV is a South Korean pay television network, which features sports programming and some sports-related talk shows. Founded in 2010, the network is the fourth premium sports network in South Korea following by KBS N Sports, MBC Sports+ and SBS Sports.
JTBC Golf&Sports is a South Korean cable TV sports channel. It was originally known as JTBC3 Fox Sports until 2020 but due to Disney phasing out the Fox brand it was renamed.
There are several sports broadcasting contracts in Thailand.
ESPN+ is an American over-the-top subscription video streaming service available in the United States, owned by the ESPN division of the Walt Disney Company, in partnership with ESPN Inc., which is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Communications. It is one of Disney's three flagship subscription streaming brands in the United States, alongside Disney+ and Hulu, and operates using technology of Disney subsidiary BAMTech, now known as Disney Streaming and MT Digital.
Star Sports is a group of South Asian pay television sports channels operated by Disney Star a subsidiary of Disney India.
ESPN Latin America is the Latin American division of ESPN Inc., and broadcasts sports-related programming for the region in Spanish. It was launched on 31 March 1989. Its programming is adapted to the likes of viewers, who tend to prefer football and Hispanic baseball players to the more locally produced programs.
Star+ is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service available in almost all Ibero-American states. The service is owned by The Walt Disney Company through the Disney Entertainment division and business segment.