| ESPN | |
|---|---|
| ESPN logo | |
| Owned by | ESPN Inc. (The Walt Disney Company/Hearst Corporation) |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV 16:9) 1080i (HDTV 16:9) |
| Country | United Kingdom Republic of Ireland |
| Website | tv.espn.co.uk |
ESPN operates five sports television channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Contents |
ESPN launched on in the UK on 3 August 2009.[1] The channel marks ESPN's first foray into live coverage of domestic sports events in the UK.
Programming is available in standard definition and high definition formats.
ESPN America is a British based European sports network, focusing on professional and collegiate sports of the United States and Canada. Originally launched in December 2002 as NASN (the North American Sports Network), ESPN purchased the channel in March 2007 for €70m from Benchmark Capital Europe and Setanta Sports.[2][3] The channel has been known as ESPN America since 1 February 2009.[4] ESPN America broadcasts a selection of top North American professional and collegiate sports leagues.
Programming is available in standard definition and high definition formats.
ESPN Classic launched on 13 March 2006 on Sky channel 442,[5] the first channel in the UK under the ESPN branding. Initially it was only available on Sky Digital but the channel became available on Virgin Media and UPC Ireland in August 2009 when ESPN UK launched. It broadcasts a range of archive sports coverage, with an emphasis on football. Programming is available in only standard definition format.
| Platform | ESPN | ESPN HD | ESPN America | ESPN America HD | ESPN Classic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BT Vision | 34 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Sky | 417/442 | 417/442 | 430/431 | 430/431 | 429 |
| Smallworld Cable | 420 | 420 | 422 | 422 | 424 |
| TalkTalk TV | 555 | N/A | 556 | N/A | N/A |
| Top Up TV | 34 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| UPC Ireland | 407 | 416 | 410 | N/A | 409 |
| Virgin Media | 529 | 530 | 531 | N/A | 533 |
On 6 April 2010, ESPN secured mobile rights to highlights from all Premier League games from the 2010-11 season, after beating British Sky Broadcasting to the deal.[6] The broadcaster won a three-year deal for short-form mobile highlights from all 380 Premier League games. It is thought that ESPN paid under £10m for the rights in a blind auction.[7]
The application, titled ESPN Goals, features a basic service offering news and live scores, which is free-to-download.[8] However, the full video clips package are chargeable on a monthly or season basis. The clips can be issued during any matches not kicking off at 3pm on Saturdays, with highlights from those games only being permitted for release after 4.45pm.
UK users will be able to access the application on Apple's iPhone or Google Android-enabled devices, along with ESPN's mobile site. The application will expand to other mobile services, such as Nokia's Ovi Store, in due course.[9]