NEW DELHI: Star Sports and ESPN HD will broadcast the first ever prime time live broadcast of the highly-anticipated ?El Clasico?between La Liga rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona at 8:30 pm on 2 March.

Traditionally telecast in the wee-hours of the morning, this weekend?s El Clasico is specifically scheduled during prime-time hours, aimed at targeting La Liga fans in Asia.

La Liga fans can look forward to a 30 min studio preview hosted by Andy Penders, with former Liverpool midfielder and England International Steve McMahon and resident Spanish football expert Antonio Codinach providing analysis and insights before the match.
Former Real Mallorca and Tottenham Hotspur striker Gerry Armstrong will be providing live commentary for the match.

With Barcelona and Real Madrid ranked the second and third most popular football clubs in the world, this nail-biting affair is certain to draw a robust global audience of hundreds of millions as arguably one of the biggest football rivalries in history.

This weekend?s El Clasico marks the 165th time the title contenders Barcelona and Real Madrid face each other.

• The pair first met in 1929, where Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 and ever since Real Madrid has narrowly taken the upper hand with 50 victories over Barcelona?s 47.
• Saturday night?s matchup will arguably contain the most talented footballers in the world, including FIFA Ballon d?Or winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, coupled with the majority of Spain?s FIFA World Cup winners.
• The pair finished with a closely fought 2-2 draw earlier in October this season. Real Madrid, the current La Liga Champions, will be looking to make a last bid on the title race after falling to third place behind Atletico Madrid.
• Incredibly this is the second Clasico this week after Real Madrid beat Barca 3-1 at Camp Nou in the 2nd leg of the Copa del Rey to secure their path to the final.

Mumbai: ESPN STAR Sports scooped six awards at the PromaxBDA India Awards held last week in Mumbai, highlighted by a complete sweep off of sports categories with its Formula One 2011 "Elements" campaign winning two Gold awards for the Best Sports Campaign and Best Sports Promo, while the Wimbledon 2011 and Barclays Premier League campaigns won Silver awards for the Best Sports Promo and the Best Sports Campaign respectively.

In addition, ESPN STAR Sports secured accolades in highly competitive non-sport categories, clinching two Silver awards for the Best Script and the Best Promo Not Using Programme Footage categories for the Wimbledon 2011 and Champions League T20 "Clocks" campaigns respectively.

This continues the winning streak from its haul of 11 awards from PromaxBDA India, PromaxBDA International and PromaxBDA Asia last year, and highlights ESPN STAR Sports? continued commitment to on-air promotional excellence across various categories, heightening its reputation as one of the top awarded organizations in Asia.

Said Paras Sharma, ESPN STAR Sports? Vice President of Marketing and Communications: "It is indeed very pleasing to win these awards and getting our work recognised by our industry peers. What makes this success even more gratifying is that it has been achieved in tandem with various business objectives, and it continues to be our focus to meld creativity with commercial goals."

The PromaxBDA India Awards recognize excellence in on-air promotion, branding and advertising across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. All the promos have been conceptualized and produced by ESPN STAR Sports.

Best Sports Promo

Best Sports Campaign

Best Script

Best Promo Not Using Programme Footage

MUMBAI: Asia?s No. 1 sports content provider, ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) is pleased to kick-off its celebration of women in sports for International Women?s Day 2012 (8 March).

To commemorate and highlight the important role women play in sports today, ESS will be paying tribute to female athletes through a mix of special TV programs, a week-long feature on Score Tonight and a new website showcasing the best of women in sports. In addition, ESS is running a series of promos with its top female presenters to raise awareness of the importance of International Women?s Day amongst its viewers in 24 countries.

Said Paras Sharma, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications, "Women play an invaluable role in today?s global sports industry, as well as in inspiring girls and young women to participate in sports, which has profound individual and community benefits.

"As Asia?s largest sports content provider, we feel strongly that International Women?s Day (IWD) presents the invaluable opportunity to celebrate and highlight the critical role women play in the world of sports to our broad viewership across Asia.

"While the world celebrates International Women?s Day on 8th of March, we at ESPN Star Sports believe in celebrating women every day. We are pleased this March to showcase top female athletes through a mix of special programs, features, promos, columns and online, as a dedication to women in sports and their incredible legacy."

ESS has developed a special website for its March IWD celebration. Espnstar.com/iwd will showcase special IWD columns, programming, Q&A with ESS? female presenters, editorial pieces, image galleries and more.

In addition, from 5-9 March, STAR Sports? Score Tonight will be celebrating female athletes with inspiring stories on women in sports and by having it mascot Melvin, transform into Melvina for the week. ESS will also be showing over 20 hours of special dedicated programming on ESPN and STAR Sports highlighting great matches and moments of women in sports, as well as features on top female athletes from 8-15 March.

Visit espnstar.com/iwd to check out ESS? International Women?s Day showcase including: TV schedule, columns, editorial pieces, photo gallery and videos.

New Delhi, November 25, 2011- ESPN STAR Sports, Asia‘s leading sports broadcaster, will broadcast live action of Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2011. Delhi‘s most eagerly awaited annual sporting ritual will be flagged off from the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the capital city on Sunday, November 27, 2011. Catch the LIVE coverage of this special event on ESPN from 07:00 am onwards.

Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, India‘s largest, is proclaimed as the ‘world‘s richest half marathon‘. The half marathon has been accredited with the ‘IAAF Gold Label Road Race‘. The Delhi course that started way back in 2005 has made its name on a global level, thereby bringing India on the Atlas of Marathon Calendar.

The women‘s challenge is led by Ethiopian defending champion Aselefech Mergia, who won her first title here in 2008. Ethiopian two-time winner and course record holder Deriba Merga will lead a strong field of elite male athletes from across the world. Former double world record holder in the full marathon, Moroccan American, Khalid Khannouchi has also confirmed his presence as the event ambassador. Meanwhile, Irappa D Akki and Lalita Babbar will spearhead the national challenge that contains about 54 male and 29 female Indian athletes.

Catch all the action Live, tune-in to ESPN on Sunday the 27th November, 07:00 onwards