The channel will deliver 700 hours of live, local sports a year, with an additional 2000 hours of replays greatly expanding the amount of local sports available in the country. It will also provide coverage of up to 56 hours a week of Malaysians competing at international level or the best in world sports of particular interest to a Malaysian audience. All of this commentated in Bahasa Malaysia.
ONE FC has its first Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia event scheduled on May 26th. While ONE FC stated this show is to accommodate Arena's broadcast schedule, the promoter has confirmed that it is still in the planning process of what this will entail. If viewers in Malaysia can watch the event live and commentated in Bahasa, it will be a fantastic regional breakthrough for MMA. With Raymond Tiew and Peter Davis representing Malaysia in ONE FC, and BJJ pioneer in Malaysia Marcos Escobar set to make his professional MMA debut with the organization, ONE FC has already begun to establish a local fan base to fuel future viewership of Arena broadcasts. The country has a burgeoning MMA scene as developed by Ultimate MMA Academy's "Ultimate Beatdown" events, and MuayFit's sponsored "Malaysian Fighting Championships", held six and five times respectively.
Astro subscribers total half of the viewing population at 3 million, as Henry Tan, Chief Operating Officer of Astro confirmed, “We would like to thank all Malaysians for their support in helping Astro achieve over 50 percent penetration of Malaysian TV homes." In February, Astro announced the launch of Njoi, a subscription-free satellite TV service that will make Astro available to all consumers nationwide:
Soon, Astro will also be available on-the-go through companion devices of choice. With Njoi, we are taking that one step further by making available to all in Malaysia, the fundamental core content in lifelong learning, information and entertainment including key sporting events for free.
While the eighteen predominantly educational channels featured on the service do not include ARENA, add on packages will be available in July. As the only free satellite service in Malaysia, Astro aimed not only to expand its capture of the broadcast market, but to improve the lives of Malaysians nationwide:
Some 50,000 low-income earners listed under the Government's e-Kasih programme will be the first to receive the decoders and satellite dishes donated by Astro under its corporate social responsibility programme (CSR).
Some 50,000 low-income earners listed under the Government's e-Kasih programme will be the first to receive the decoders and satellite dishes donated by Astro under its corporate social responsibility programme (CSR).
While ONE FC may not have taken social responsibility into consideration when dealing with Astro, this is a positive and beneficial development to note.
Along with the media release of the Malaysia Astro broadcast deal and Kuala Lumpur event, ONE FC also announced two future event dates and locations: September 1st in the Philippines and October 6th in Singapore. The following is the text of the release:
Astro ARENA secures exclusive television broadcast rights to air
ONE Fighting Championship™ in Malaysia
19 March 2012 – Singapore: Malaysia’s first local sports channel Astro ARENA has bought the exclusive rights to air content from Asia’s largest mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, ONE Fighting Championship™ (ONE FC). Astro ARENA reaches out to millions of viewers across Malaysia and has become the preferred channel by Malaysians for sports content. Viewers in Malaysia will now be able to enjoy ONE FC events as Asia’s best professional MMA fighters compete in different countries all over Asia.
Henry Tan, Astro COO said, “Astro offers Malaysians the best of international and local live sports from football to F1, tennis, golf and badminton through its 11 sports channels. Through Astro ARENA, Malaysia’s number one local sports channel, we will bring ONE Fighting Championship™ to martial arts fans in Malaysia by showcasing the best of the region’s professional fight athletes competing in the most prestigious series of MMA events.”
Victor Cui, CEO/Owner of ONE Fighting Championship™ said, “Malaysia’s sports fan base has always been enthusiastic about new and exciting events. From the World Cup to Formula 1, the discerning sports fans in this country have been very supportive of only the best. We are very happy to bring the largest MMA event in Asia with world class content to Malaysians with Astro.”
To accommodate Astro ARENA’s broadcast schedule, ONE Fighting Championship™ will now hold its first Malaysia event on 26 May 2012. The fight card will be released in the near future.
ONE FC has also confirmed events for 1 September in the Philippines as well as 6 October in Singapore. Between the Malaysia event on 26 May and the Philippines event on 1 September, additional events have been planned and will be announced as venues are confirmed. For further information and regular updates, please log on to www.ONEFC.com.
About ONE Fighting Championship™
Headquartered in Singapore, ONE Fighting Championship™ (http://www.onefc.com) is Asia's largest mixed martial arts organization. ONE Fighting Championship™ hosts the best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Fighting Championship™ has partnered with ESPN STAR Sports, the number one leader in sports content, for an unprecedented 10-year cable television deal with a coverage that spans across 24 countries in Asia.
About ASTRO
ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORKS (ASTRO) is Malaysia's leading cross-media group with significant presence in DTH (Direct-To-Home) TV services, commercial radio and TV programming. Astro, the subscription TV service began operations in 1996 with 22 channels and currently broadcasts over 125 pay-TV channels in four major languages including 8 channels in High Definition across Malaysia and Brunei to more than 2.93 million households.
Astro Arena (Channel 801), is the country's first local sports channel. It is a 24 hour local sports channel delivered predominantly in Bahasa Malaysia and available to all Astro customers under its Family Pack.
Great event Ten Sports Live
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