ESPN, ESPN HD and ESPN Classic may be added tomorrow

All three channels are currently testing on Virgin Media, and below is what can currently be seen on the ESPN Classic test:


The channels may be added to the Virgin Media EPG tomorrow ahead of their launch on Monday. More as it happens.

ESPN America will continue to broadcast

For a while now, it has been unclear as to what will happen to ESPN America, and it had been presumed that it would become the new ESPN channel with all American sport moving to the new channel. It has now been confirmed that ESPN America will remain, and will only be switching channel numbers. The following has been added to the ESPN America website:

"While ESPN America will continue to broadcast to customers on the Sky platform, ESPN America will be changing channel numbers. From 3rd August, ESPN America will move from Channel 417 to Channel 430.

ESPN America will also be moving out of the ‘News and Events’ pack and Sky customers will be able to subscribe to ESPN America as follows:

-Sky Sports subscribers can upgrade to receive ESPN America and also receive ESPN & ESPN HD for £9 per month
-Sky Customers can upgrade to receive ESPN America and also receive ESPN & ESPN HD for £12 per month"

"While ESPN will continue to broadcast to customers on the Virgin Media platform, ESPN America will be changing channel numbers. From 3rd August, ESPN America will move from Channel 533 to Channel 531.

Virgin Media subscribers will be able to get ESPN America as follows:

XL Virgin TV Pack Subscriber: Get ESPN America + ESPN, ESPNHD & ESPN Classic included as part of your monthly subscription
L Virgin TV Pack Subscriber with Sky Sports: Add ESPN America and receive ESPN, ESPN HD - HD* for £8
L Virgin TV Pack Subscriber without Sky Sports: Add ESPN America and receive ESPN, ESPN HD - HD* for £10
M Virgin TV Pack Subscriber with Sky Sports: Add ESPN America and receive ESPN, ESPN HD - HD* for £8
M Virgin TV Pack Subscriber without Sky Sports: Add ESPN America and receive ESPN, ESPN HD - HD* for £10 "

While ESPN will continue to broadcast to customers on the Virgin Media platform, ESPN America will be changing channel numbers. From 3rd August, ESPN America will move from Channel 533 to Channel 531."

I know many American sports fans will be pleased to hear this.

Jon Champion and Kelly Cates confirmed

According to The Guardian, Jon Champion and Kelly Cates have joined ESPN. Jon Champion previously commentated on some of ITV's football coverage, and will continue this role for ESPN. Kelly Cates previously presented Setanta Sports News before Setanta collapsed, and which programmes she will present has yet to be confirmed.

More sports confirmed

The Telegraph have reported on a press release from ESPN which confirms the following sports to be shown on the new ESPN channel:

• UFC (including UFC 101)
• French Rugby Championship
• Australian Football League
• Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
• FIBA European Basketball Championships

And apparently there is more to come as well.

UFC news and commentators confirmed

According to The Sun, ESPN have got hold of the rights to show UFC fights, starting from next month with UFC 101. They claim this is an exclusive, so there is no confirmation from ESPN themselves yet.

The Sun have also confirmed the two commentators for ESPN's SPL coverage, which will be Derek Rae and Craig Burley, with Ray Stubbs presenting the program.

ESPN confirmed for Virgin Media, finally!

It has today been confirmed that ESPN will be available to Virgin Media TV customers from August 3rd, and also in HD, along with ESPN Classic. The new channel (and HD channel), will be available to XL TV customers at no additional cost, whilst those on M & L TV can subscribe for £8 a month if taken with Sky Sports, or £10 a month on its own.

This confirmation of carriage on Virgin Media comes shortly after ESPN confirmed a number of football rights including MLS, Eredivisie and Portuguese Liga football.

More football in the bag

According to Broadcastnow.co.uk, ESPN has today revealed further football rights, including the remainder of the MLS season starting from August 8th, which will include David Beckham playing for LA Galaxy against New England.

They also have a multiyear deal for German Bundesliga for up to 5 matches per week, including previews and highlights. On top of this, they will show Portuguese Liga, Dutch Eredivisie and Russian Premier League games.

Further football includes Real Madrid's pre-season friendly tour of North America, Benfica's friendly against AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur's friendly against Olympiakos. The Italian Super Cup will also be shown live.

SPL initial fixtures revealed

The initial fixtures to be broadcast on ESPN (and Sky Sports) have been revealed today.

ESPN will have the following to start with:

• Monday August 17 - Dundee United v Hearts
  Live on ESPN, kick-off 7.45pm
• Saturday August 22 - Falkirk v Hibernian
  Live on ESPN, kick-off 12.30pm
• Sunday August 30 - Hibernian v Celtic
  Live on ESPN, kick-off 12.30pm
• Monday September 14 - Falkirk v Aberdeen
  Live on ESPN, kick-off 7.45pm
• Saturday September 19 - Kilmarnock v Rangers
  Live on ESPN, kick-off 12.30pm
• Saturday September 26 - St Mirren v Celtic
  Live on ESPN, kick-off 12.30pm
• Saturday October 17 - St Johnstone v Rangers
  Live on ESPN, kick-off 12.30pm

All Old Firm games will be broadcast on Sky Sports. For the initial Sky games, see here.

ESPN America site incorrect

According to the Virgin Media twitter, when the ESPN America update was put to them regarding ESPN being free to XL TV customers, they responded with; "Their site is incorrect - however we are in the middle of discussions with ESPN on a number of things so watch this space." Whether or not this means it won't be free is not clear, so we're still waiting for official news regarding how the channel will be carried on Virgin.

At least Sky customers can rest safe in the knowledge that they'll be getting ESPN HD, and if they are already subscribed to Sky Sports, they can add ESPN for £9 a month.

Official site updated

Almost two weeks after the last update, the official ESPN site has been updated once more, this time with more content and a smarter look.

Major information from this update is:

• ESPN HD practically confirmed as a Sky exclusive, with the site saying, "All Premier League matches broadcast on ESPN will also be available in HD to Sky+ HD customers."
  

• More broadcast rights should be announced soon, with an image on the subscription page saying, "We look forward to announcing more sports over the coming days."
  

There is still no word on the site regarding Virgin Media, and there are a number of links to Sky for those wishing to subscribe. As soon as further details are available, they'll be here.

ESPN pricing confirmed for Virgin Media?

The ESPN America website has changed, on the page which details how to get the channel, saying:

"ESPN America is available on Virgin Media channel 533 but differs depending on what Virgin TV package you subscribe to.

M & L pack subscribers: ESPN America costs an additional £10
XL Pack subscribers: ESPN America is free as part of your package"

This suggests that the new channel will be available for free to all XL TV subscribers, and for all other customers it will be available for an extra £10 a month as an additional service. Good news if true, but there is yet to be an official announcement regarding this.

Meanwhile, a Digital Spy member has contacted Neil Berkett, the CEO of Virgin Media, to ask if ESPN will be available on Virgin Media, and received the reply "you will be able to get ESPN but not in HD at the moment." So it is very unlikely that Virgin Media customers will be able to experience the new ESPN channel in HD until a later date.

SPL list out tomorrow

The list of SPL games to be broadcast on ESPN and Sky will be available tomorrow. Expect them here when they're available.

ESPN now testing on Sky

ESPN have begun test transmissions on the Sky platform, in both SD and HD. As reported by Digital Spy, "The HD channel placeholder can be located at 11856 V at a symbol rate of 29500 with a FEC of 3/4."

The same article claims that Virgin Media are still discussing a deal with ESPN to carry the channel.

First presenter revealed

According to The Guardian, ESPN have hired former BBC presenter Ray Stubbs to present Premier League coverage. Any of you who watch some of the BBC Sport programmes, will remember Ray Stubbs from darts coverage, the Final Score programme, and occasionally presenting Match of the Day in place of Gary Lineker.

UFC deal close

According to iFight365.com, ESPN are leading the way to getting hold of the UFC rights, and are close to announcing a deal. They face competition from Five, Bravo and Sky Sports.

More as it comes.

SPL deal struck (Updated)

Just heard on Sky Sports News that the SPL clubs have voted for the £65m joint deal with ESPN and Sky, to broadcast 60 games a season, up until 2011, with the option to broadcast for another two seasons.

As soon as further details are available, it'll be here.

Update: It has been confirmed that the games will be split equally between ESPN and Sky, and the deal will last until at least the 2011/12 season. No fixture list is yet available, but as soon as it is published, we'll let you know.

ESPN favourites to win UFC rights

According to an article on The Sun website, Sky have snubbed a deal for the UFC rights, which leaves ESPN as favourites to show the UFC in August. An official announcement is set to be made next week.

ESPN to commission IMG Sports Media

According to an article on The Guardian's website, ESPN are to commission American company IMG Sports Media to produce its studio shows for its Premier League coverage and for any future rights they may get.

"ESPN, due to launch a new UK channel in time for the beginning of the football season to house the 46 live Premier League matches that became available when Setanta went under, is poised to sign a vital production deal. The US broadcaster will commission IMG Sports Media, the production arm of the global sports marketing company, to make the studio shows and ancillary programming for its Premier League coverage and any other rights it wins. Sky cameras will provide its on-pitch coverage but IMG will take responsibility for other content, some of which is also likely to be shared with its ESPN Soccernet website. The deal is the latest manifestation of ESPN's efforts to keep costs down by outsourcing retail, customer service and production to third parties. It is also expected to extend to programming around other rights that ESPN is seeking. The Scottish Premier League is considering a joint bid from Sky and ESPN to step into the void left by the collapse of Setanta and the broadcaster is believed to be in negotiations with the Football Association over FA Cup rights."

IMG currently work with Sky Sports for their Premier League coverage. This is also the first we've heard about ESPN trying to get FA Cup rights, so here's hoping they can add those rights to the Premier League ones. More as we get it.

Official site updates

Finally there has been a change to the official ESPN website, going from a simple site which just allows you to register your interest, to a slightly better one with information on Sky channel numbers, a link to a new page for registering interest with Sky, who will then contact you about how to subscribe to the channel. They also show the first fixture they'll be showing of the new season (Everton v Arsenal), as announced yesterday.

August-November Premier League fixtures confirmed

The first lot of fixtures between August and November have been confirmed, including which channels will be broadcasting them. Below is a list of the games confirmed for ESPN so far:

August

• Saturday 15 Everton v Arsenal 5.15pm
• Sunday 23 West Ham v Tottenham 1.30pm
• Monday 24 Liverpool v Aston Villa 8pm
• Saturday 29 Chelsea v Burnley 12.45pm

September

• Saturday 12 Tottenham v Manchester United 5.15pm
• Saturday 19 West Ham v Liverpool 5.15pm
• Saturday 26 Fulham v Arsenal 5.15pm
• Monday 28 Manchester City v West Ham

October

• Saturday 3 Manchester United v Sunderland 5.15pm
• Monday 5 Aston Villa v Manchester City 8.00pm
• Monday 19 Fulham v Hull City 8:00pm
• Saturday 24 Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers 5.15pm
• Saturday 31 Manchester United v Blackburn Rovers 5.15pm

November

• Saturday 7 Wolves v Arsenal 5.15pm
• Monday 9 Liverpool v Birmingham City 8.00pm
• Saturday 21 Manchester United v Everton 5.15pm
• Saturday 28 Aston Villa v Tottenham 5.15pm

That's a total of 17 games between August and November, with some promising fixtures amongst them. If you want to see the full list of fixtures to be broadcast, which includes the Sky games too, they're available here.

As soon as the rest of the fixtures are available, they'll be here.

Details imminent?

According to Digital Spy, they have learnt that Virgin Media will soon be making an announcement on details of the availability and pricing for the new ESPN channel for VM subscribers.

As soon as an announcement is made, we'll let you know.

Major new information

It's all been coming thick and fast today, with plenty of major information about the ESPN UK channel and more potential rights coming in.

Firstly, the SPL big wigs are to vote on a joint £65m TV deal from BSkyB and ESPN, according to Evening Times. A decision should be made very soon, so there may well be a definite answer tomorrow.

As previously mentioned a few days ago, the ESPN UK channel has been confirmed to be available on Virgin TV, and today it has been confirmed that it will go live on the 4th of August 2009, on the already known channel number of 533. This means it'll be available in time for the start of the new season.

Along with this information, The Guardian say that the new channel will replace ESPN America, and be known simply as ESPN. They also say it'll launch on the 3rd of August, so whether it'll be the 3rd or 4th is unclear right now. The new channel will take channel number 417 on Sky, and the HD channel will be available on channel number 443. For existing Sky Sports subscribers, it will cost £9 a month to subscribe to ESPN, whilst all other customers will be charged £12 a month.

It is not known what the subscription fee will be for Virgin Media customers, or whether the HD channel will be available at launch, or if at all. As soon as we have more information, you'll see it here.

The ESPN Classic channel will remain as normal.

ESPN confirmed for Virgin Media

The new ESPN channel has been confirmed for Virgin Media, and will launch in August on channel 553. According to an official Virgin channel listing PDF, the channel will be a premium channel, so will have to be subscribed to for a an additional fee.

ESPN fighting for Scotland World Cup Qualifier

ESPN is facing opposition from Sky and the BBC for the rights to show Scotland's important World Cup Qualifier against Norway, on August 12th. The game was originally to be broadcast by Setanta Sports, but since Setanta went into administration, competition is fierce for picking up their rights.

Confirmation will come next week as to who will be showing the game, and it has been confirmed that it will be shown live.

Source: The Guardian

SPL considering combined bid from Sky and ESPN

It appears that the Scottish Premier League is considering a combined bid from Sky and ESPN for the SPL rights. The offer is said to match that of Setanta, who have recently lost the rights.

Nobody has yet commented on this, but the SPL have said "external discussions are ongoing".

Source: The Guardian