talkSport Ink Deal to Develop Radio Broadcasts of English Football in China

UTV Media plc owners of radio broadcaster talkSPORT have announced a partnership with Adrep China Advertising Services Limited (ADREP), and an advertising sales, marketing and business support services company, have entered into a long-term collaboration to develop national sports radio marketing services in China.

talkSPORT and ADREP will collaborate on a range of ventures within China, initially

focused on providing live radio coverage of the Barclays Premier League, FA Cup

and Capital One Cup football.

From the beginning of the 2013/14 football season in August, radio listeners in China will be able to hear live Mandarin commentary of matches between clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool via a network of radio stations in key Chinese provinces. ADREP and talkSPORT will also collaborate to distribute the commentaries via mobile apps, Chinese social media platforms and digital platforms.

talkSPORT and ADREP also intend to provide coverage of selected matches before the current football season ends in May as the coveted Premier League and FA Cup trophies are awarded.

talkSPORT is the world’s biggest sports radio station with 3 million listeners per

week. talkSPORT became the Premier League’s Global Audio Partner in 2012 and

also recently renewed its rights agreement for live Premier League coverage in the

UK. The station also has rights to broadcast the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup,

both in the UK and globally.

talkSPORT already streams live Mandarin commentary outside China via

talksport.com, mobile apps, TuneIn and Twitter as part of its talkSPORT Live

service. talkSPORT’s Mandarin commentary team made history at the Capital One

Cup final in February 2013, with the first ever live commentary in Mandarin from

London’s Wembley Stadium.

ADREP is building a national radio advertising sales network under its proprietary

brand “MY FM” in major cities throughout China. MY FM has achieved coverage in

seven major markets, namely Nanjing, Nanchang, Hefei, Urumqi, Xian, Changchun

and Tianjin.

John McCann, Group Chief Executive, UTV Media plc said: “The sheer scale of the

Chinese market and popularity of Premier League football make China a key focus

for talkSPORT’s global expansion. Through this collaboration with ADREP,

talkSPORT can play a major role in the future development of Chinese sports radio.”