TV5 Network Inc., (TV5) and ESPN are collaborating to introduce a new brand for Filipino sports fans – ESPN 5.
Mike Morrison, vice president and general manager, ESPN APAC, said, “ESPN’s focus around the world is simple: to serve sports fans. This long-term collaboration across television and digital allows us to jointly serve millions of sports fans in the Philippines with exceptional content and coverage. We are very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead as we bring ESPN’s great content, and decades of experience in sports media together with a dynamic leader in Philippine sports broadcasting like TV5.”
Through this collaboration, TV5’s “Sports 5” will be rebranded as “ESPN 5”, encompassing all sports coverage on TV5. In addition, ESPN will license to TV5 more than 2,500 hours of additional programming per year from its portfolio of sports rights, original programming and studio programs. The companies will also join forces to produce a daily Philippine edition of the iconic SportsCenter to air on TV5.
ESPN5 and the SportsCenter Philippine Edition will air on TV5’s free-to-air television channels – TV5 and Aksyon 41.
Speaking about the agreement, Vincent “Chot” Reyes, TV5 president said, “Our partnership with ESPN, long recognized as the worldwide leader in sports, gives us tremendous upside in the quality of sports programming that we bring to the market. ESPN strengthens our current position as the country’s sports authority. It is also a testament to our belief that the Filipino audience deserves the world’s best in sports content and programming.”
The brand and content deal between ESPN and TV5 is part of TV5’s strategic effort to deliver the most comprehensive, wide-ranging sports coverage in the Philippines, with Filipino audiences benefitting from the combination of local and global sports coverage, exclusive, industry-leading news and information programming from both ESPN and TV 5.
On TV, the ESPN 5 lineup will consist of TV 5’s current portfolio, including the PBA, FIBA competitions, GILAS, UFC and the PSL, along with thousands of hours of new sports coverage and content from ESPN which include more than 70 NFL games per season. These include Monday Night, Sunday Night and Thursday Night Football games, as well as the entire NFL Playoffs, The Super Bowl and Pro Bowl. Alongside the live games, ESPN 5 will be able to feature award-winning ESPN NFL studio programming such as NFL Live.
Other ESPN programming included in the ESPN 5 agreement includes:
Original, award-winning ESPN studio programs including Around the Horn and Pardon The Interruption.
U.S. College Basketball (including the March Madness® NCAA Championship Tournaments); X Games, the premier action sports and youth lifestyle competition globally;
ESPN’s Big Fights library, including many of the greatest boxing fights of all time;
ESPN Films’ multi-Award Winning sports documentaries (including the 30 For 30 series);
Major conference American college football (including the College Football Playoff and National Championship and comprehensive coverage of the college football bowl season);
IndyCar Racing (including the iconic Indianapolis 500); NCAA college sport championships from baseball, softball, lacrosse and football;
The iconic SportsCenter Philippine Edition will be a unique, daily program that will be produced each day from TV 5 studios in the Philippines.
ESPN and TV5 will offer a co-branded multisport ESPN 5 website and an accompanying ESPN 5 app to fans in the Philippines. The ESPN 5 site and app will offer a world-class, mobile-first digital platform that combines TV5’s sports content including local sports news, video and analysis with ESPN’s coverage of top sports from around the world – including basketball, global football (soccer), tennis, boxing, MMA, badminton, athletics, American football, eSports and more. The digital properties will feature scores, up to the minute news and statistics, commentary and analysis, video and more – all with a focus on specifically serving Filipino fans. More details on the cobranded website and app will be shared at a later date.
The two companies will also jointly launch an ESPN 5 edition of the ESPN Player streaming service later this year, which will feature thousands of additional hours of live streaming content. At launch this will include hundreds of NCAA college basketball and football games, X Games and IndyCar racing.
