The ICC today announced the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will be broadcast to more than 200 territories across five continents with an anticipated reach of more than two billion people, thanks to expanded syndication and licensing deals by ICC’s global media rights partner, Star Sports.
In 146 countries fans will be able to watch the coverage via traditional broadcast whilst the digital broadcast coverage is available in more than 200 countries.
The event, which will be staged at the Cardiff Wales Stadium, Edgbaston and The Oval from 1-18 June, will for the first time be broadcast live into China, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia via Fox Network Group.
Also, in a major coup for UK based fans, cricket returns to the BBC after 6 years, with a daily one-hour highlights show being transmitted throughout the tournament by the British public service broadcaster. And for the first time ever, fans in Continental Europe and Japan can watch the event live via ICC’s Facebook page.
Viewers in India will get a choice of following the coverage via Star Sports in English, Hindi and Tamil.
The ICC will also be continuing its long-term partnerships with various broadcast partners including Star (India and the rest of the Indian Sub-continent), Sky Sports (United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland), SuperSport (South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa), OSN (Middle East & North Africa). Fox Sports (Australia), Willow TV (USA), Sky TV (New Zealand), Ten Sports (Pakistan), ESPN (Caribbean), Gazi TV, Maasranga and BTV (all Bangladesh), SLRC (Sri Lanka) Fox Network Group (China and Asian Sub-continent), ATN (Canada) and Moby TV (Afghanistan).
Digital streaming is playing an increasing role in enabling cricket fans to view ICC events and Star Sports’ Hotstar platform is leading the charge. Coverage via Hotstar will be available in India, Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and the Pacific Islands amongst other territories.
In addition, a new partnership has been formed with Yupp TV for Canada and Continental Europe who join existing platforms, ESPN and Willow in South America, Sky Go (United Kingdom), Foxtel Sports (Australia), OSN Play in Middle East & North Africa and Fan Pass (New Zealand).
From an audio-only perspective, a full complement of licensees will supplement live TV Broadcast coverage including joint production between Channel 2 and talkSPORT for all matches, with this coverage being available at icc-cricket.com and on the ICC App.
Other audio licensees include Radio 4 (MENA), BBC (United Kingdom), All India Radio (India), SABC (South Africa), SLBC (Sri Lanka), ABC (Australia) and Avenue (Pakistan).
Online, the ICC continues to revolutionise the digital fan experience by licensing short form clips. Short-form video clips of ICC Champions Trophy match action, highlights and event content has been licensed to 12 digital clip partners covering more than 180 countries.
Clips covering up to six minutes per hour of in-match content - as well as match previews, media conferences, highlights packages and event features - will be provided to websites, smartphone apps and other digital properties with a focus on mobile.
More than 100 million cumulative clip views are anticipated as ICC enters the digital video space across a number of identified growth markets.
Following the success of ICC World Twenty20 2016, the ICC continues its near-live digital clip partnership with BBC (UK & Republic of Ireland), ESPN (UK and Australia), Hotstar (India), Cricbuzz (US & Canada), Khaleef (Pakistan), Dialog (Sri Lanka), Cricketgateway (SE Asia & Australia), Bongo (Bangladesh & SE Asia).
New partnerships have also been formed with OSN (Middle East & North Africa) and Channel 2 Group (Europe, Australia, Sub-Saharan Africa, UK, South East Asia & the Caribbean).
News access partnerships with Perform and SNTV for all matches with Reuters for the Semi Finals and Final to distribute 90-second news clips, at the conclusion of each match for 24-hours.
Speaking on the broadcast and digital reach for the tournament, ICC Chief Executive, David Richardson, said: ““The ICC is committed to continuing to making cricket one of the most viewed sports globally and we would like to thank global broadcast partner, Star Sports, its licensees and other media rights and digital partners for taking the coverage of the ICC Champions Trophy far and wide. We aim to offer fans credible, informative and engaging content, attracting a huge global audience, across all platforms with both long form and short form content.
“Our on-the ground ICC TV team will help tell the story, build heroes and connect with the fans. We want to continue our growth in the digital space and ensure fans are at the very heart of the experience we are delivering”
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