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| Country |
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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | |
| Network | Fox Sports International |
| Programming | |
| Languages | |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific (Disney International Operations)[1] |
| Sister channels | List
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| History | |
| Launched |
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| Closed |
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| Replaced by | Astro SuperSport 5 (Malaysia) Eurosport (Asia) Premier Sports (Philippines) SKTV Sports 4 (Vietnam) SPOTV (Southeast Asia) ESPN Asia (digital service via social networking sites and YouTube) |
| Former names |
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| Links | |
| Website | global |
Fox Sports Asia (formerlyESPN Star Sports) was a pan-Asianpay television network operated byFox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary ofThe Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Ltd. It also oversaw a version ofStar Sports available in mainland China and South Korea.
The network was originally launched in 1991 asStar Sports (earlierPrime Sports) andESPN bySatellite Television Asian Region (STAR TV) andESPN International. The two companies combined their Asian operations in October 1996.News Corporation assumed full control of the venture in 2012 and relaunched the channels in two phases, in January 2013 and August 2014.
In March 1991, HutchVision announced it would jointly operate a sports channel with Denver-based Prime Network International, to be distributed in more than 30 Asian countries, reaching an audience of nearly three billion.[3]
Star Sports was first launched on 21 August 1991 as Prime Sports (體育台). Its first broadcast was theUS Open tennis tournament.[citation needed] It was a24-hourmulti-sport television channel broadcasting in English and Chinese. Operated by Hong Kong–based STAR TV, the channel was carried onAsiaSat 1 and reached from the Far East to the Middle East. STAR TV later regionalized the service to better serve its audience.
On 1 February 1996, the channel changed its logo from the original 1991 design to a box-type STAR symbol featuring a frame, a pentagram star, and a square.
On 1 April 1999, the channel introduced its first major logo redesign, changing from a vertical to horizontal layout, consistent with other STAR TV channels.
During this time, the feed was used in both Southeast Asia and the Chinese region (Taiwan and China) until it was split into two dedicated channels on 31 March 2001.
ESPN was part of the "Gang of Five", a consortium formed withCNN International,HBO,TVB (withTVB Superchannel), and theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation (withAustralia Television International), to compete against STAR TV in the region. The group's channels were initially transmitted via thePalapa satellite, and later also via theApstar satellite.
ESPN opened its production facility at New Tech Park inLorong Chuan,Singapore, in May 1995.[4]
ESPN and Star Sports were competing with each other across Asia,[5] but their businesses were operating at a loss. In October 1996, both channels agreed to combine their operations in the region.[6] The resulting joint venture, later named ESPN Star Sports, was headquartered in Singapore (where ESPN's operations in Asia were based).[7]
On 16 January 1998, aversion of Fox Sports launched in the Middle East, carried by Star Select.[8] This apparently replaced ESPN STAR Sports in the region, but the pan-Asian version was available via theAsiaSat andPalapa satellites.
On 6 June 2012,News Corporation announced it would buyESPN International's share in ESPN Star Sports.[9][10] Later,Star India took over ESPN Star Sports' businesses in India[11] andrelaunched its sports channels under the Star Sports brand on 6 November 2013.[12][13]
In October 2012, Fox Football Channel was launched inMalaysia.[14] The channel ceased transmission in 2015.
On 28 January 2013, ESPN and ESPN HD were relaunched as Fox Sports and Fox Sports Plus HD in Hong Kong,Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.[15][16] The regional version of ESPNews was relaunched as Fox Sports News, and SportsCenter Asia was relaunched asFox Sports Central.
On 15 August 2014, Star Sports was rebranded as Fox Sports 2, and Fox Sports Plus HD was renamed Fox Sports 3 (or Fox Sports HD inVietnam). The correspondingHD andSD versions of all three channels were also launched.[17][18] This rebranding did not affect much of East Asia: aversion of Star Sports continued to broadcast to mainland China and South Korea, and the ESPN feed forMainland China was renamed as Star Sports 2 on 10 January 2014.
ESPN International has since refocused on its digital business building out online properties forfootball (ESPNFC),cricket (CricInfo),Formula 1 (ESPNF1), and Australianrugby union (ESPNscrum),[19] and established a partnership withMulti Screen Media in India (Sony ESPN TV channel until 31 March 2020),TV5 Network in the Philippines (ESPN5 programming division until 13 October 2021),Tencent in mainland China (a dedicated ESPN section at qq.com), andMediacorp in Singapore (local ad sales only for the ESPN website through its Partner Network division).
On 31 March 2020, the website of Fox Sports Asia merged with the global ESPN website. Fox Sports Asia social media remained unaffected.[20]
On 8 March 2021, Fox Sports partnered withEmtek'sOTT media service,Vidio, to make the networks available for Indonesian viewers.[21]
On 18 September 2020, Disney announced that it would shut down Fox Sports operations in Taiwan at end of 2020.[22] It was later revealed that operations in Taiwan would end on 1 January 2021, following years of losing money in the region.[23]
On 27 April 2021, Disney announced that the Fox Sports network, along withthe rest of Fox channels, would close down for good on 1 October after 30 years of broadcasting, folding the former Prime Sports/Star Sports Asia and ESPN Asia channel spaces, as they shift their focus to the latter streaming platformDisney+ (orDisney+ Hotstar for Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand; although the launch in Vietnam was currently unknown).[2] The last event covered by the channel was the Formula One2021 Russian Grand Prix, the2021 Superbike World Championship atCircuito de Jerez andUFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega.
Prior to the shutdown, Korean sports networkSPOTV brought the licensee to cover up the remaining2021 MotoGP World Championship,[24] taking over the Fox Sports network once their transmission went offline; because of this, the remaining MotoGP races were broadcast.[25] They also carried theSuperbike World Championship.[26] Vietnam had no TV broadcasters for MotoGP until SPOTV officially launched on 24 December 2023.[27]
Hong Kong pay TV providerNow TV picked up the coverage of the2021 US Open along with the remaining races of the2021 Formula One World Championship and futureUFC fights, prior to the closure of the Fox Sports network.[28][29]
The remaining coverage of both Formula One and UFC was aired on MalaysiaAstro forAstro SuperSport 5, which had been launched post-closure,[30] PhilippinesPremier Sports from theTAP Sports network, which replaced Fox Sports post-closure,[31] SingaporeStarHub TV andSingtel TV, for Hub Sports & Mio Sports,[32] and even ThailandTrueVisions'True Sport.[33]Mola streamed the remaining UFC fights in Indonesia while also carrying the sub-license to both Singapore and Malaysia for future Live fights with the inclusion ofDana White's Contender Series. It hadn't been aired when Fox Sports mainly aired the UFC main events.[34] Meanwhile, theEmtek group aired the remaining Formula One races for their Champions TV network along with theirOTT media serviceVidio which previously carried the Fox Sports network to the service.[35][36]
As reported exclusively from SportBusiness, the Formula One coverage in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia (excluding Vietnam, in which K+ owned the rights following the closure of the channel) transferred over tobeIN Sports starting from 2023,[37] which also carried bothAustralian Open andFrench Open tennis rights (except in Vietnam, which was owned by K+ and VTVcab respectively),[38][39] awhile SPOTV, which already available across Southeast Asia (excluding Vietnam until 24 December 2023[27]), will broadcastWimbledon and theUS Open. The extension for UFC coverage in Southeast Asia was yet to be finalized.
TheJohn Dykes Show was announced to be resumed onDisney+ Hotstar in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, then yet-to-be announced for otherDisney+ territories including Singapore and Hong Kong asStarOriginals.[40]
A few days after its closure, Disney relaunched the ESPN brand in Asia as a digital media portal through its official YouTube channel and social media pages.
The individual regional feeds of Fox Sports channels include:
It also overseed aversion of Star Sports broadcast to mainland China and South Korea, and Star Sports 2 (formerly known as ESPN until 31 December 2014) broadcast to mainland China.
In South Korea, Fox Sports was partnered withJTBC until 11 March 2020, which operated JTBC3 Fox Sports (now known asJTBC Golf&Sports). As ESPN Star Sports, it has previously partnered withMBC (MBC ESPN (now known asMBC Sports+)) from 2001 until July 2010, andSBS (SBS ESPN (now known as SBS Sports)) from Late 2010 until 2014.
Broadcast rights for various sports properties contain territorial limitations and in a lot of instances, the rights indicated below may not pertain to all Asian territories in which Fox Sports operated.
Sports Business reports that pay-TV broadcaster beIN Sports is finalizing a multi-year deal beginning in 2023 reaching across most of its Asia-Pacific footprint, but excluding Australia, where Foxtel recently renewed its deal, and New Zealand.
