The Premier League is to launch a 24/7 high definition content service for its licensees outside the UK and Ireland.
The first time the Premier League has produced a studio-based content service specifically for its licensees, the year-round offering will be produced in the UK by the Premier League Productions division at IMG.
The Premier League's content service will only be available for its international rights licensees. It has already been confirmed that content provided by the service will be broadcast across all of the Middle East and Africa and parts of Europe and Asia.
Global Reach
Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: "We have worked hard to make interest in the Barclays Premier League global and we currently broadcast in 211 territories to a global reach of over 500 million.
"As we have grown so has the thirst from our licensees and prospective licensees to have more content from us. We have listened to them and the Premier League's content service is the response to that demand.
"Our content service will be at the vanguard of sports industry media development. We are moving away from a time where the people who buy our rights overseas are traditional broadcasters, to one where buyers can include telephony companies and platform operators who do not generate their own content. This new service gives them access to quality Premier League content 24 hours a day."
The lead presenter, anchoring studio presentation of the matches, will be John Dykes. John joins from ESPN Star Sports' where he hosts their coverage of the Barclays Premier League and presents their Final Score, Football Focus, Football Up Close and First Edition shows. The 46 year-old, who hails from Essex, has worked in Asia for over two decades and is one of the most recognised faces in Asian sports broadcasting.
Excellent Work
Scudamore added: "We are busy working with IMG to put together a team of talent that will deliver high-end production and presentation. It gives me particular pleasure to welcome our first signing, John Dykes, who we have known for many years thanks to his excellent work on ESPN Star Sports.
"John's passion for football really does come across on screen; it's not for nothing that he's known as 'Mr Premier League' in Asia and I'm sure he'll do a great job leading the line on the Premier League's content service.
Dykes said: "I am grateful to the Premier League for giving me such a fantastic opportunity. I have been lucky enough over the last decade to see just how much this amazing league means to people across the vast Asian region, from China to the Indian sub-continent.
"Having built a career around it from afar, to now have the opportunity to work directly with the Premier League is a dream come true. I can't wait for it all to kick-off in August."
Extensive Archive
The service, which launches in August and will be a showcase for the 20 Premier League clubs, will provide international broadcasters with a range of new English language, studio based output.
It will contain as many live matches as possible in a single service, with up to six per weekend a possibility, and there will be new programming around these and the delayed matches. Fans will have access to all 380 Barclays Premier League matches.
In addition to the three existing regular Premier League magazine shows broadcast to licensees (Premier League World, the Premier League Preview Show and the Premier League Review Show), there will be new analysis and magazine programmes, international phone-ins, daily football news bulletins and classic matches from the Premier League's extensive archive.
IMG, which has just been re-appointed by the Premier League to handle production and distribution for all its international programming, will be responsible for developing the Premier League's content service.
Scudamore said: "This new service is going to deliver engaging content, and I am sure the quality production, international standing and appreciation of the sports market by IMG, who we have worked in partnership with since 1997, will ensure that the Premier League's content service will deliver an even better Premier League to our fans across the world."
