IMG Partner with ICC to Help Produce New Weekly Show

The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) are planning to have flagship weekly programme, buy renamed ICC Cricket 360 with the help from IMG Media, cough part of IMG Worldwide, prostate the global sports and media company in a deal lasting until the end of 2015.

The weekly half-hour programme is scheduled to begin in June 2012 and will be produced out of IMG Sports Media’s Singapore’s production base and will draw heavily on IMG’s production experience around the world.

The programme will cover news from the full spectrum of world cricket with features and action from the very best of the top cricketing countries through to the 95 ICC Associate and Affiliate Members where the game is growing in popularity.

The half-hour programme will include features such as star interviews with leading international players, the A-Z of Cricket and Featured Club of the Week, as well as news, reviews and previews from all levels of the game. There will be regular updates on the ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20, ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC U-19 World Cup as well as Test cricket. The continued success of women’s cricket, including the ICC Women’s World Cup, the ICC’s successful Pepsi ICC Development Programme and a weekly update on the latest Reliance ICC Rankings will also feature prominently. Among the leading players expected to feature in the opening editions of the show are Yuvraj Singh, Shane Watson and Kevin O’Brien.

ICC Cricket 360 will also allow supporters to engage with the show through the use of different Twitter hashtags for each edition’s main feature stories, while additional material not featured in the television programme will also be available on social media platforms, including the ICC’s official Twitter and Facebook page.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC Chief Executive, said: “Our partnership with IMG and the launch of ICC Cricket 360 is fitting as it will showcase the splendour of cricket, including the three vibrant formats and the captivating ICC global events. Promoting the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka and the U/19 Cricket World Cup in Australia this year and the Champions Trophy in England next year will be an exciting start.

“The show will also be an excellent platform to present the growing success of our Pepsi ICC Development Programme and the rewarding strides achieved in women’s cricket. The weekly programme will be valuable to promote cricket both in traditional and new audience markets over the next three years.”

Executive producer, Andy Tait, said: “Our aim will be to give viewers and cricket fans a unique behind-the-scenes view. We will show how the game is growing in different parts of the world due to the ICC’s initiatives and competitions, especially at youth and grassroots level in the different regions.”

He added: “We will unearth truly amazing stories that will show the role cricket is playing in different parts of the world and in all walks of life. It is a truly global game and our objective is to demonstrate how far and wide cricket’s message is being heard as well as talking to some of the top players past and present and delving into the rich cricketing archives for historical elements to the show. The cricket fan is in for a real treat.”