MUMBAI: talkSport, the world?s biggest sports radio station and global audio partner of the Premier League, and Adrep China Advertising Services (ADREP), an advertising sales, marketing and business support services company with offices in Beijing and Shanghai, have entered into a long-term collaboration to develop national sports radio marketing services in China.

talkSport and ADREP will collaborate on a range of ventures within China, initially focused on providing live radio coverage of Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup football.

From the beginning of the 2013/14 football season in August, radio listeners in China will be able to hear live Mandarin commentary of matches between clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool via a network of radio stations in key Chinese provinces. ADREP and talkSport will also collaborate to distribute the commentaries via mobile apps, Chinese social media platforms and digital platforms.

talkSport and ADREP also intend to provide coverage of selected matches before the current football season ends in May as the coveted Premier League and FA Cup trophies are awarded.

talkSport is the world?s biggest sports radio station with 3 million listeners per week. talkSport became the Premier League?s Global Audio Partner in 2012 and also recently renewed its rights agreement for live Premier League coverage in the UK. The station also has rights to broadcast the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup, both in the UK and globally. talkSport is part of UTV Media plc, a leading UK and Ireland multimedia company with interests spanning TV, radio and new media.

talkSport already streams live Mandarin commentary outside China via talksport.com, mobile apps, TuneIn and Twitter as part of its talkSport Live service. talkSport?s Mandarin commentary team made history at the Capital One Cup final in February 2013, with the first ever live commentary in Mandarin from London?s Wembley Stadium.

ADREP was incorporated in February 2008 and successfully established an advertising representation business in China. ADREP is building a national radio advertising sales network under its proprietary brand "MY FM" in major cities throughout China. MY FM has achieved coverage in seven major markets, namely Nanjing, Nanchang, Hefei, Urumqi, Xian, Changchun and Tianjin.

UTV Media Chief Executive John McCann said "The sheer scale of the Chinese market and popularity of Premier League football make China a key focus for talkSport?s global expansion. Through this collaboration with ADREP, talkSport can play a major role in the future development of Chinese sports radio services, providing advertisers with new platforms to connect with Chinese sports fans."

talkSport Chief Executive Scott Taunton said "We look forward to working with ADREP to bring talkSport?s distinctive and passionate brand of live sports coverage to China. Radio is one of the best ways to follow your favourite team and our expert team of football commentators and analysts are sure to bring the drama of the Premier League to life for our Chinese listeners."

ADREP Executive Director Ken Wang said, "Our partnership with talkSport enables us to bring unique and specific content to local Chinese radio stations and communities. Through the network of terrestrial based radio stations and via digital platforms, Chinese audiences will now be able to experience the excitement of the Premier League football like never before. In addition, this collaboration brings with it a ground-breaking opportunity for advertisers to be involved with the broadcasts."