Hong Kong Cable Television Limited CABLE TV and ESPN STAR Sports jointly announced today that they had reached an agreement to bring the ‘best of Live ESPN STAR Sports cricket’ on CABLE TV’s digital platform commencing from April 10, 2003.

International cricket matches will be carried on Channel 81 (Best of ESPN STAR Sports Cricket) are taken from a combination of cricket matches on the India feeds of both ESPN and STAR Sports channels. Original commentary in English will be provided.

Mr. Eric Lo, Executive Director, Cable Subscription Services of CABLE TV, said the carriage was definitely good news to local crickets lovers. ‘I have no doubt the continuous offering of cricket matches throughout the year will be welcomed by them following the successful carriage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 on our platform,’ he added.

‘We are pleased to partner with ESPN STAR Sports again to bring top quality sports programmes to Hong Kong and to offer an unprecedented range of sports programme choices on local television,’ he said.

Said Adam Zecha, Senior Vice President of International Sales, ‘This year-long season-pass of cricket will complement the programming on our two channels ESPN and STAR Sports. We are not surprised at the strong following for cricket. We have been monitoring trends in the various cricket-popular markets and have sought to make available such programming to satisfy the growing passion for this sport.’ He continued, ‘Providing such a strong line up of cricket programming is key for the network and is testament that we are giving viewers what they want to watch, when they want to watch it.’

While not a full 24-hour service, the new cricket channel will provide comprehensive event coverage of test matches as well as triangular and one-day internationals.

Interested viewers can subscribe to the channel at a fee of HK$340 per month or HK$2,280 per year. There is an early bird discount for those booking before midnight on April 9, at HK$278 per month or HK$1,828 per year. Please call CABLE TV’s subscription hotline 1832 832 for subscription details.

For further information, please contact:
External Affairs Department, CABLE TV
Ms. S. K. Chan
Tel: (852) 2112 6916 E-mail: skchan@cabletv.com.hk

Ms. Ivy Ng
Tel: (852) 2112 5968 E-mail: ivy_ng@cabletv.com.hk

Marketing Communications, ESPN STAR Sports
Ms Stephenie Vasko E-mail vaskos@espnstar.com
Tel: (65) 6488 6126