ESPN America
BT Sport (UK) | |
Former names | NASN (2002–2009) |
---|---|
Links | |
Website | www.espnamerica.com |
ESPN America was a British-based European sports network, focusing on professional and collegiate sports of the United States and Canada. Originally launched on 5 December 2002 as NASN (the North American Sports Network), ESPN America broadcast a selection of top North American professional and collegiate sports leagues including Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Canadian Football League (CFL), 24 hours a day on digital cable and digital satellite television.
Formerly operated by
Programming
Programming on ESPN America varied from country to country. The channel operated three feeds throughout
ESPN America also showed the Little-League World Series from Williamsport, PA and the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest from Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY.
In 2006, ESPN programmes, including Baseball Tonight, Around the Horn, The Sports Reporters and Pardon the Interruption were dropped from the schedule as the contract between NASN and ESPN ended. However, they returned from 1 April 2007 after ESPN acquired the channel.[3]
ESPN America also aired other ESPN US produced single-sport programmes, such as
On 28 October 2009, ESPN America began to be broadcast in
On 1 March 2010, ESPN America began showing a European edition of SportsCenter, anchored by Michael Kim.[5] The 30-minute programme broadcast five days a week at 6am UK/7am CET with three repeat showings following immediately after, with an updated show at 10.30pm UK/11.30pm CET. The show was filmed at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, USA.
Up until the
In April 2012, SportsCenter moved from five to seven days a week with a new start time of 8am UK/9am CET. At this point, ESPN stopped producing a local version of SportsCenter, opting instead to broadcast an edited version of the 2am
Sale to ESPN
In late
ESPN America HD
On 1 March 2010, the Nordic
Sale to BT Group and subsequent closure
On 25 February 2013, BT Group agreed to acquire ESPN's UK and Ireland TV channels business, consisting of ESPN and ESPN America, the value of the deal was not disclosed, but BT is understood to have paid "low tens of millions".[11] At midnight on 1 August 2013 the channel ceased its operations in all Europe, Middle East and Africa.[12]
In the UK and Ireland most contents were moved to the local version of
See also
- Eurosport
- ESPN (UK)
- ESPN Classic (UK)
- ESPN Classic (Italy)
- ESPN in the United Kingdom
- Setanta Sports
References
- ^ NASN. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ Sabbagh, Dan (13 March 2006). "NASN to show live baseball in Europe". The Times. London. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "ESPN Programming Is Back On NASN". ESPN America. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "ESPN America Gets Even Better". ESPN America. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ^ Plunkett, John (8 February 2010). "ESPN to launch European edition of SportsCenter". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
- ^ Hancock, Ciaran (3 December 2006). "Ireland: TV3 grabs Setanta stake". The Times. London. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "Overview of Setanta Sports Pack". Setanta.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-17. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
- ^ Welsh, James (2 October 2008). "NASN to become ESPN America". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ "Amerikansk hockey i HD". Canal Digital. February 19, 2010.
- ^ Laughlin, Andrew (21 June 2010). "ESPN America HD launches on Sky". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ^ "BT buys ESPN'S UK and Ireland TV channels". The Guardian. 25 February 2013.
- ^ "ESPN AMERICA TV CLOSED DOWN ON AUGUST 1st, 2013". ESPN America. Retrieved 1 August 2013.