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MUMBAI:
Singaporean pay-TV operator StarHub will offer Star Cricket,
replacing its existing cricket channel.
In addition, StarHub will also add Cricket Extra, a channel
for simulcast cricket matches, to StarHub Digital Cable’s
Cricket Group. Both Star Cricket and Cricket Extra will be
made available from 17 March.
Owned
by ESPN Star Sports (ESS), Star Cricket was first launched
in India in June last year, and achieved record ratings during
the broadcast of the ICC World Twenty20. The channel airs
live and delayed international and regional cricket events,
cricket news, archive programming, and magazine and reality
shows.
Fans
can look forward to the upcoming Pura Cup Final (the domestic
first-class cricket tournament in Australia) that will be
aired live on the channel till 19 March, in addition to exciting
magazine programmes such as Inside Cricket, Timed
Out, Star Mail, archive shows such as Super
Centuries and Boxing Day Knock Outs.
Cricket
Extra will cater to the occasional simulcast of live cricket
events, so viewers can choose which live event to watch. The
channel will also serve as a platform to air selected cricket
tournaments that are not made available on Star Cricket or
Neo Sports.
StarHub VP of cable TV services Patrick Lim said, “We
are committed to meeting the diverse needs of our customers,
and even though cricket is considered to be a niche sport,
we have consistently looked at ways to enhance the range of
world-class cricket content available on our platform. We
added Neo Sports to the Cricket Group last year, and are confident
that fans will be pleased with the latest cricket offerings
on Star Cricket and Cricket Extra. We share a strong relationship
with ESPN Star Sports, and we are pleased to partner them
to offer Star Cricket to the fans here.”
ESS SVP (affiliate and multimedia sales) Adam Zecha says,
“We have been bringing the best of international cricket
to fans in Singapore through StarHub for many years, and we
are glad to further extend our partnership with StarHub through
this initiative. Star Cricket is the definitive cricket channel,
and has a proven track record in the Indian subcontinent,
a region with very discerning cricket fans. We firmly believe
that the channel will win the hearts of viewers in Singapore
with its extensive and compelling 24-hour cricket content.”
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