Singapore, 8 April 2010 – Sports fans will soon be able to enjoy their fix of worldclass sports content on StarHub TV at an even more attractive price. StarHub today announced that the pricing of the Sports Group will be lowered by more than 50 percent to $12 monthly from June 2010 [1]. StarHub also gave customers more reason to rejoice by unveiling a range of fresh content and new sports channels following a new multi-year partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA), which will bring ‘live’ NBA games, including this year’s NBA Playoffs, to StarHub’s in-house channel SuperSports for the first-time ever. StarHub will also offer new dedicated sports channels for its subscribers including NBA TV, Racquet Channel [2], Ten Sports and PGA Tour On Demand.
In addition, Sports Group customers who are MaxOnline or StarHub Mobile post-paid customers respectively will continue to receive free access to StarHub TV Online and StarHub TV on Mobile till the end of this year. These value-added services empower customers with the flexibility to control their TV viewing even when on the move.
“With the new reduced pricing of $12 a month, viewers can enjoy ten worldclass sports channels for as little as around a dollar a channel a month. In addition, they will also be kept up-to-date and entertained on the go with ‘live’ sporting events and rich content from 26 premium TV channels on StarHub TV Mobile,” enthused Mr Tan Tong Hai, COO, StarHub.
The biggest NBA stars and explosive NBA action all on StarHub TV [3]
Beginning 8 April, SuperSports and SuperSports Arena will start airing the remaining games of the current NBA regular season and carry the Western Conference NBA Playoffs beginning 18 April. Beginning next season, NBA fans in Singapore will be able to watch up to three ‘live’ games per week on SuperSports including the preseason, regular season, NBA All-Star, Playoffs and Finals.
Through this partnership, StarHub will also offer a new channel to its subscribers as of 23 May, NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour digital network that delivers the most comprehensive basketball coverage in the world. NBA TV will bring fans ‘live’ NBA and WNBA regular season and playoff games, real-time statistics, scores, breaking news, game highlights and Classic games. The channel offers one ‘live’ game per day and up to 35 hours of original NBA programming every week. StarHub customers will be able to enjoy NBA TV even when they are on the move via StarHub TV On Mobile.
“We are thrilled to partner with NBA to offer the ultimate viewing experience for basketball fans. Audiences who are passionate about basketball will delight in the wide variety of NBA programming that will soon be made available on StarHub TV, with over 97 ‘live’ NBA games over the course of the season and access to premium NBA content beyond their television screens,” said Mr Tan.
“Our new partnership with StarHub will help us meet the growing demands for NBA programming in Singapore by providing fans with extensive coverage of ‘live’ games and basketball lifestyle shows,” said Scott Levy, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, NBA Asia. “StarHub’s cross-platform distribution will allow us to communicate with our fans on a daily basis and continue to grow the game.”
StarHub TV offers viewers more convenience with new Racquet Channel
Racquet sports such as tennis, badminton, table tennis and squash will soon call a new channel on StarHub TV home. To offer fans of racquet sports greater ease when tuning in to their favourite sports, StarHub will aggregate racquet sports events on Racquet Channel - a brand new channel that will be made available to all Sports Group customers from 23 May 2010, coinciding with the start of the French Open.
Key events that viewers may look forward to on Racquet Channel in 2010 include:
StarHub TV offers viewers more flexibility with PGA Tour On Demand [4]
StarHub's On Demand Channels give customers access to a library of programmes that they can watch whenever they like and as often as they wish. PGA Tour On Demand will be added to the Sports Group from 8 May, starting with THE PLAYERS Championship, to give viewers greater control and flexibility over their viewing of the PGA Tour.
Other On Demand Channels available as part of the Sports Group include WWE Series On Demand. BPL On Demand and La Liga On Demand will be available to customers until the end of the current football league seasons.
Access to some half of the world's cricket boards with Ten Sports [5]
An agreement between StarHub and Taj Entertainment Network to offer Ten Sports on StarHub TV will bring cricket buffs in Singapore some of the most exciting cricket action from around the world. The channel will be made available to StarHub's Cricket Group customers from 23 May and will offer 'live' cricket matches from close to half of the world's cricket boards including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, Zimbabwe.
“We are excited to add Ten Sports to the Cricket Group, and are confident that fans will be pleased with the extensive line-up of cricket content on StarHub TV. In addition to all home matches by the Indian and Bangladesh cricket teams, Indian domestic tournaments and the Indian Premier League, viewers will be able to savour some of the best cricket on Ten Sports spanning cricket from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as well as programmes fronted by leading sports personalities and notable cricket experts,” said Mr Tan.
"We are delighted to bring our channel to a Singaporean audience. With five of the ten major international cricket boards under our umbrella, we will provide more international cricket than any other channel and have some spectacular action coming shortly, including India's tours to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, Pakistan's home series with Australia and South Africa in the West Indies,” said Mr Peter Hutton, Chief Operating Officer, Ten Sports.
With the addition of Ten Sports, StarHub’s Cricket Group will comprise Ten Sports, Neo Sports and Cricket Extra. STAR Cricket is packaged by ESPN STAR Sports and will be available on StarHub TV until end June 2010.
The widest range of worldclass sports content all under one roof
StarHub offers sports fans the widest sports coverage in Singapore, being the operator offering the largest number of channels dedicated to sports.
From July 2010, the Sports Group will comprise Eurosport, Football Channel, Golf Channel, NBA TV, Racquet Channel, Sports HD, SuperSports, SuperSports Plus, PGA Tour On Demand and WWE Series On Demand. In addition, all cable TV customers will have free access to two sports channels – SuperSports Arena and Eurosportnews. SuperSports Arena is presently available on the Complimentary Tier, while Eurosportnews, presently offered as part of the Sports Group, will be added to the Complimentary Tier from July 2010.
Sports fans can look forward to ‘live’ telecasts of premium football leagues such as the Spanish La Liga and German Bundesliga, as well as telecasts of exciting sporting genres such as tennis, basketball, golf, wrestling, badminton, rugby and motor sports.
Viewers can refer to the On-screen TV Guide or StarHub’s Online Programme Guide at www.starhub.com/beentertained for the updated schedules of StarHub TV sports channels. Existing StarHub TV customers can call 1633 to subscribe to the Sports Group, while new customers who wish to subscribe to StarHub TV can call 1630.
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[1] Currently, StarHub TV customers may add the Sports Group for a monthly subscription fee of $25.
[2] StarHub’s carriage of NBA TV and Racquet Channel is pending regulatory approval.
[3] The NBA, founded in 1946, is a professional sports league and global business that features 30 teams in the United States and Canada. The NBA regular season begins in the last week of October and ends in mid-April. During the regular season, each team plays 82 games, 41 home and 41 away. Following the NBA regular season, 16 teams qualify for the NBA Playoffs in mid-April, eight from the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively. Each round in the playoffs, including the Finals, is best-of-seven games.
During the 2009-10 season, NBA games will reach 215 countries and territories in 41 languages. The league’s worldwide reach is also displayed in the 80 international players from 35 countries and territories on NBA rosters. NBA merchandise is sold in more than 100,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents. NBA.com averages more than 26 million page views per day, with more than 50 percent of the site’s visitors coming from outside of North America. Through NBA Cares, the league, its teams and players have donated more than $120 million to charity, provided more than one million hours of hands-on service to communities around the world, and created more than 465 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.
[4] A HubStation or HubStation HD is required for access to the On Demand Channels.
[5] Ten Sports is the world's premier sports channel for South Asians, reaching over 55 million homes across the Sub-continent, Middle East, Europe and Asia. The channel enjoys over 50 percent share of viewing of sports channels in India and is fronted by some of the world's leading sports personalities and presenters who offer insights into every aspect of the sports they cover. Some of notable cricket experts featured on Ten Sports include Mike Haysman, Ian Bishop, Dean Jones, Waqar Younis, Rameez Raja, Ian Chappell, Imran Khan, Ian Healy and Tony Greig.
