PR: RallycrossRX confirms more TV deals for the 2013 FIA European Rallycross Championship.
RallycrossRX has announced further global broadcast deals for the 2013 FIA European Rallycross Championship, including in the UK and Eire with British Eurosport, AB Motors in France and Sport1+ in Germany. The new deals have been negotiated on behalf of IMG Motorsports by IMG Media, both divisions of IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company.
Following on from the announcement last month of Viasat’s media partnership and that five rounds of the RX Championship will be broadcast exclusively live, RX can announce that deals with several other broadcasters in overseas territories have also been confirmed, with others major territories also nearing agreement. Among those to have signed up to broadcast live coverage and/or extended highlights programming in addition to British Eurosport, AB Motors in France and Sport 1+ in Germany are Sport 10 in Belgium, Sport TV in Portugal, NTV Plus in Russia, RTL in Hungary, Balkan broadcaster SportKlub, Sport Italia in Italy and Fox Sports / Speed in Australia. In addition, coverage will be available to viewers in Asian territories via EDGEsport, the 24-hour premium action sport channel produced by IMG Media. A full list of broadcasters confirmed for 2013 is listed below.
Combined with distribution via Trans-World Sport and Action Sports World, both weekly sport magazine programmes which together reach over 50 broadcasters worldwide, it extends the potential reach of the Championship to over 450 million homes. Martin Anayi, Managing Director of RallycrossRX for IMG Motorsports, said: “This is very promising news for the Championship. The broadcast deals which have already been confirmed and those ongoing discussions nearing agreement will not only increase exposure of the Championship exponentially but will also grow the global appeal of the sport in general. Coupled with the top line-up of drivers that have signed up, worldwide fans of the sport have much to look forward to.”
In addition to the TV broadcast coverage, IMG has secured deals with SNTV, the world’s largest sports news agency, to ensure that news content of the RX Championship is delivered to over 400 broadcasters and digital partners who subscribe to the sports news service. It has also been confirmed that Andrew Coley will be the lead RallycrossRX broadcast presenter and commentator for the World Feed and for the Highlight shows produced by IMG. A former racing driver himself, Coley has worked on a broad range of motorsport production including WRC, IRC and MotoGP on BBC, ITV and Eurosport. “RallycrossRX retains all the qualities that first got me involved in the sport as a fan,” said Coley. “I’m over the moon to get to commentate on it in 2013.”
IMG will also provide fans with an exciting social media platform to follow the RX Championship. IMG recently launched the official RX Website – (www.rallycrossrx.com) while there is also a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/rallycrossrxtv). Fans from across the world will be given the chance to view and engage with a wealth of exclusive multimedia content. A three minute highlights clip will be made available online on each day of racing, while numerous motorsports/lifestyle clips will be shared with millions of fans worldwide throughout the course of the year.
CURRENT LIST OF CONFIRMED BROADCASTERS FOR 2013
Belgium: Sport 10; Denmark: Viasat Sport; Finland: Viasat Sport; France: AB Motors; Germany: Sport 1+; Hungary: RTL; Italy: Sport Italia; Norway: Viasat Sport; Portugal: Sport TV; Romania: GSPTV (Sport channel of Terrestrial broadcaster Antena); Russia: NTV Plus; Spain: TV3; Sweden: Viasat Sport; UK & Eire: British Eurosport; Bosnia Herzegovina: Sport Klub; Cyprus: Cyprus TV Sports Channel; Croatia: Sport Klub; Czech Republic: CT4 Sport; Greece: Sport TV; Israel: Ananey; Macedonia: Sport Klub; Serbia and Montenegro: Sport Klub; Slovenia: Sport Klub; Ukraine: First Automotive Channel; Australia: Fox Sports/Speed; Australia: EDGEsport (IINET); China: EDGEsport (PPTV); Hong Kong: EDGEsport (Now TV); Malaysia: EDGEsport (Astro); Mongolia: EDGEsport (Sky C&C); Myanmar: EDGEsport (Skynet); Thailand: EDGEsport (ITV Media); Thailand: EDGEsport (Me TV); TransWorld Sport: Worldwide (40 broadcasters); Action Sports World: Worldwide (11 broadcasters); Connexion Motor: Spain on TVE (1 broadcaster); YouTube: RallycrossRX channel/EDGEsportTV channel; Ustream: RallycrossRX channel.
Photo: Rallycross was invented in February 1967 for the television cameras – and is still THE motorsport for TV. © JKR/ERC24