Champions Trophy broadcast to reach 1.5 billion people - ICC
The ICC Champions Trophy, which is set to start in the first week of June featuring the world’s top eight ODI teams, will be playing across three stadiums in the United Kingdom.
STAR Sports, who are the host broadcasters and ICC global media rights partner, are preparing for its production to make sure that the people across 180 territories will enjoy the event from their homes.
After the new and extended agreements by STAR Sports, which includes the continuation for partnership with ESPN in the US and Caribbean, Fox Sports in Australia, BSkyB in the UK, Sky TV in New Zealand, SuperSport in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa and Pehla in the Middle East and North Africa, the event is believed to reach an audience of around 1.5 billion.
David Richardson, ICC Chief Executive, said: “The ICC Champions Trophy 2013 will showcase the best teams in the world and to complement the on-field action, ICC and STAR Sports will ensure the best possible coverage to the widest audience ever for an international 50-over event. For those people around the world who can’t be in England and Wales in person this June, STAR Sports’ distribution efforts have ensured that 1.5 billion people across the globe can view every single ODI of the tournament from the comfort of their own home.”
The continuous coverage of the event in Pakistan via PTV, Bangladesh via BTV and Sri Lanka via CSN, will ensured that the audience of more than 1.5 billion is reached.
16 commentators are said to feature in the live broadcast which include many legends of the game.
These include: Michael Atherton, Michael Holding, Nasser Hussain, Shane Warne, David Lloyd, Pommie Mbangwa, Ramiz Raja, Russell Arnold, Sanjay Manjrekar, Simon Doull, Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar, Tom Moody, Wasim Akram, Alan Wilkins and Harsha Bhogle.
Nasser Hussain said: “I’m really looking forward to being part of the Star Sports commentary team for the ICC Champions Trophy for what I’m sure will be top class coverage of the event. It’s great to have the best eight teams in the world here in England and Wales. The atmosphere will be electric.”
Michael Atherton added: “The ICC Champions Trophy is one of the best events in cricket. Every game matters and they’ll be played in front of big crowds in the UK. All the teams have a chance of winning – it’s absolutely wide open. I can’t wait to join the Star Sports team.”
Source: Thatscricket