ESPN, the world’s largest distributor of sports programming, today launched a 24-hour ESPN television network in Israel at 9:00 a.m. local time, June 15th.

ESPN will be distributed throughout the country by all three of Israel’s cable operators – Matav Cable Systems, Golden Channels and Tevel International Communications – as well as by Israel’s new DBS platform, YES. ESPN, which will be telecast in English, will reach 1,160,000 subscriber households, 100 percent of all households with cable television in Israel.

‘ESPN is extremely pleased to launch a full network in Israel, where we have enjoyed syndicating programming for a long time, including to Channel 5 since its inception,’ said Lefler. ‘With its highly developed cable, and now DBS, television distribution network, coupled with the popularity of a wide variety of sports, we are enthusiastic about the strong prospects for growth of the ESPN network in Israel.’

ESPN Executive Vice President, ESPN Enterprises and ESPN International, Willy Burkhardt added, ‘We’re really excited to launch yet another network and to welcome ESPN Israel to our family of networks.’

ESPN’s programming line-up in Israel will feature top-quality international sporting events, including 2002 World Cup qualifiers from Europe, UEFA Champions League, Dutch National Team matches, the entire 20-race CART FedEx Championship Series of auto racing; and the sixth annual international X Games competition in August, as well as other youth and extreme sports programming. In addition, the ESPN network will telecast popular American sports including: the National Football League (NFL), NCAA college basketball, Major League Soccer (MLS), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), and much more.

ESPN International is a division of ESPN, Inc., which is based in Bristol, Connecticut, USA. ESPN Inc., the Worldwide Leader in Sports, 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.

For Further Information Lease Contact:
Beth Albert
Tel: +1 212 456 0228
Fax: +1 212 916 9325
http://www.international.espn.com