With a commitment to deliver the biggest and best sporting moments from across the world to sports obsessed fans throughout India, Discovery Communications today announced the launch of DSPORT, an all-new premium sports channel in India. The launch marks the first time in over 10 years that a media company has introduced a new sports channel for the Indian market. It elevates Discovery’s 20-year history in India, ensuring a new generation have access to the best in live sports content.
Discovery already has a strong reputation for its expertise in fuelling the passion of sports fans in Europe and connecting them with the greatest sports events in the world through Eurosport, the number one sports destination in Europe. The launch of DSPORT in India perfectly complements this wider strategy to provide fans with more live action across a plethora of sporting genres. DSPORT has a clear ambition to redefine sports engagement, by giving viewers access to unmatched ‘live’ sporting action from around the world. With a rich catalogue that covers 4000+ hours of ‘live’ content every year, DSPORT’s offering is unrivalled in the Indian market.
Karan Bajaj, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific said, “Discovery has been entertaining Indian audiences for over two decades with a well-entrenched portfolio of unique content channels. We are excited to add yet another flagship brand to our growing offering with the launch of DSPORT, which is set to redefine sports entertainment. Combining India’s passion for sports with our global expertise in sports production DSPORT will offer a daily dose of 10+ hours of live content for viewers across the country.”
R.C. Venkateish former MD of ESPN Star and former CEO of Dish TV India will be working closely with DSPORT especially in areas related to content acquisition for the channel.
DSPORT redefines sports coverage in India with a wide repertoire of exciting properties from across the world of sports. These will initially include:
Horse Racing: exclusive rights to telecast daily live racing from the best of UK and Irish tracks totaling over 7000 races/ year
Football: Brazilian League, Chinese Super League, Portuguese League, Major League Soccer (USA)
Golf: British Open (The Open Championship), US Open, PGA Championship, LPGA
Motorsports: NASCAR, FIA World Rallycross Championship
Rugby: 6 Nations Rugby
Cycling: Tour de France (a property of Eurosport)
DSPORT is in advanced negotiations for selected high quality cricket events to add to the above-mentioned portfolio. At launch, DSPORT will be a part of the Sports Tier via a subscription model on both DTH and Cable in both HD and SD.