talkSPORT nets world Premiership deal

Published Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Radio station talkSPORT has struck a deal with the English Premier League for the rights to broadcast match coverage internationally for the next four seasons, in the biggest development for the station since its launch.

UTV Media plc's John McCann and Scott Taunton in talkSPORT's studios. (© UTV)

Becoming a global audio partner means talkSPORT will broadcast commentary on all 380 Premiership games in multiple languages for sports fans across the world.

"talkSPORT currently offers excellent Barclays Premier League radio commentary coverage in the UK," Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said.

"We look forward to that being available to millions of fans across the globe, with English, Spanish and Mandarin broadcasts in territories outside of Europe for four seasons from 2012/13."

As we're seeing in the closing stages of this season, the Barclays Premier League is a compelling competition and radio rights are important to ensuring that as many fans as possible can follow the league and their club.
Richard Scudamore, Premier League

Sports fans outside Europe will have access to coverage via the internet and mobile apps, while talkSPORT also intends to establish a network of global radio partners in markets such as Asia, North America and Africa.

The London-based station intends to expand its existing premises and its editorial and commercial teams to produce the international output, while other UTV Media plc companies - such as Tibus and Simply Zesty - will assist in the delivery of the project by providing technical and digital marketing expertise.

"This is a huge development for talkSPORT which builds on the significant progress the station has made in the UK in recent years," talkSPORT Chief Executive Scott Taunton said.

"I'm really excited about the potential for talkSPORT as a global brand, invoking the same passion in listeners and advertisers overseas as it does in the UK."

We'll be expanding our London office studio and production space and I can't wait to see the buzz on match days.
Scott Taunton, talkSPORT

UTV Media plc Group Chief Executive John McCann also welcomed the deal.

"Since UTV acquired talkSPORT in 2005, we have invested significantly in sports rights and presenters to successfully reposition talkSPORT as the brand leader for sports audio content in the UK," he said.

"Today's agreement with the Premier League is part of UTV's strategy to market talkSPORT globally.

"We look forward to building on talkSPORT's reputation for quality sports content with international audiences and advertisers alike, backed up by UTV's expertise in global digital delivery."

Launched in 2000, talkSPORT has built up an audience of over 3.2m adults and was named Sony Radio Academy Station of the Year in 2011.

Comments

3 Comments

s magowan in belfast wrote (419 days ago):

Sorry Andy maybe i should have suggested that the majority of football fans don,t listen to radio commentary anymore.I sympathise with you having to work nights as i had to work shifts including nights for 30 years and i know how you feel.I don't have sky or espn but watch the game whenever it's on tv,but i would,nt listen to a radio commentary.It's just a matter of preference.

Andy C in Belfast wrote (426 days ago):

@ s magowan .... I beg to differ , speaking as a warehouse man working a night shift and saturdays , its always great to listen to matches as we dont have the comfort of being able to watch them nor be in a position of such a cushy 9-5 ,mon-fri job. Oh and there's 23 of us on night shift listening to the footie , and 14 of our warehouses in the UK , so I'd say thats a decent enough start to a listening audience, i'm sure there is hundreds more in a similar situation or quite simply cannot afford the luxury of Sky Sports/ESPN .

s magowan in belfast wrote (428 days ago):

What's all the fuss about,nobody listens to live radio coverage of football nowadays since the majority have sky espn and the internet to view the matches live