From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dutch group of pay television sports channels
Television channel
ESPN
is a Dutch group of
pay television
sports channels, owned by
ESPN Inc.
, a
joint venture
between
The Walt Disney Company
(which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the
Hearst Communications
(which owns the remaining 20%) and operated by Eredivisie Media & Marketing CV in which
The Walt Disney Company (Benelux) BV
has 51% ownership. ESPN launched as Fox Sports on 1 August 2013, buying out the Eredivisie Live service from the Dutch Football League.
[1]
[2]
On 31 December 2020, it was renamed ESPN after the
acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney
in 2019. ESPN offers 4 HD channels and 1 Ultra HD channel,
Video-on-demand
services and ESPN app. Its main competitor is the Dutch
premium television
service
Ziggo Sport Totaal
.
History
[
edit
]
It launched as
Eredivisie Live
at the start of the 2008?09 season on 29 August 2008.
[3]
Highlights of the Eredivisie can be seen on the national public broadcaster
NOS
.
The pundit team includes Jan van Halst,
Mario Been
and
Pierre van Hooijdonk
.
Gary Lineker
provides a weekly analysis of the matches, which can be seen on the website of Eredivisie Live. The website also offers
pay-per-view
matches.
Between the 2009?10 and 2012?13 seasons, Eredivisie Live broadcast the
UEFA Europa League
live on Thursdays. From 2013?14 the coverage switched to sister service
Fox Sports International
for matches of non-Dutch clubs.
[4]
In August 2013, the Eredivisie Media & Marketing CV would establish another two channels which included
Fox Sports International
while
Eredivisie Live
was rebranded into Fox Sports Eredivisie on 1 August 2013.
[5]
On 20 March 2019 The Walt Disney Company acquired
21st Century Fox
, including Fox Networks Group Benelux and Fox's 51% stake on the channel.
[6]
[7]
Since July 2019, Fox Sports 1 is part of the
KPN
provider basic package.
[8]
On 1 October 2020, it was announced that the networks would rebrand as
ESPN
on 31 December 2020, due to the
acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney
.
[9]
[10]
The number of linear television channels was reduced to 4 on 2 August 2021.
[11]
ESPN Ultra HD launched on 2 August 2021, During the Johan Cruijff Schaal. This also was
Evert ten Napel
's last match as ESPN commentator.
[12]
Channels
[
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]
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPN3
- ESPN4
- ESPN Ultra HD
- ESPN Watch (digital app for subscribers)
Coverage
[
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]
Baseball
[
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]
Basketball
[
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]
Ice Hockey
[
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]
- NHL
3 games per week live
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
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Executives
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U.S. networks
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Linear TV
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Part-time
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Radio
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International
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Latin America
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Brazil
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Caribbean
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Netherlands
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Oceania
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Sub-Saharan Africa
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Co-owned Canadian
sports networks
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Ventures
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Defunct ventures
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Sports broadcasting rights
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Other properties
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Notable personalities
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Miscellaneous
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