Page 35 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 2 2012
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THE CHANNEL
Eurosportʹs DNA at every level and
in each of the 82 countries it
broadcasts in worldwide is the idea
of sport diversity (the group covers
around 150) and providing its fans
access to sporting action at the
highest level ‐ and live, wherever
and whenever possible.
A Eurosport viewer in Asia‐
Pacific has access to 526 live hours
of top tennis action, from the entire
WTA tour to the recently acquired
rights for the US Open, and all of
cyclingʹs biggest tours and classics,
a total of 388 hours of live. Also
popular are athletics, motorsports
and wintersports, which together
accounts for 1071 hours of live
broadcast.
NINETY PERCENT EXCLUSIVE
But where Eurosport Asia‐Pacific
carves out its USP, where it stands
out as its own media entity, is in
broadcasting events which are not
available to Eurosportʹs European
viewers. Events such as the IAAF
Diamond League and especially
rugby, where Eurosport Asia‐
Pacific offers 300 live hours from
the best of Northern hemisphere
club action, such as the Top 14, the
Heineken Cup, the English Super
League and the Asian Five Nations.
In all, this year Eurosport in Asia
Pacific will broadcast over 60
events at world cup and world and
European championship level ‐ 90%
of which is de facto exclusive.
"The growth of our channels in
Asia‐Pacific in just six years has
been phenomenal. Today we have
around 3,700 hours of fresh
programming, almost half the
channelʹs annual output, of which
80% is ʹliveʹ. We started in 2002
with two countries and now we
have 19. Last year we launched an
HD channel, which allowed us to
penetrate markets like Thailand
and Korea which are completely
HD. So we are going from strength
to strength and are an integral part
of the Asia‐Pacific pay‐TV
andscape. Thatʹs quite an
chievement after such a short
time. But there is a lot more to do."
Such as developing its
burgeoning rights portfolio and
improving the quality of the
channel in terms of content and
technology. Hoekstra wants to
develop the online operation in the
region, which means building on
the Eurosport.com brand which
already has a partnership with one
of the biggest online providers in
the world, QQ.com, as well as a
range of popular apps for iPhone,
iPad and Android users.
THE LAST FRONTIER
Hoekstra is also still committed to
conquering new markets. Top of
the list: India. "India is the last
frontier; it is the only country where
we have not yet launched our
channels. India is very different to
all our territories in the region. It
has a very high pay‐TV penetration,
about 125m households. It is the
biggest pay‐TV market in the world."
On the way to achieving these
goals in Asia‐Pacific, Hoekstra can
call on a hugely successful model in
the Eurosport Groupʹs 22 years of
sports expertise and experience.
"We want to replicate the success of
Eurosport in Europe," he says. "We
have two decades of experience
behind us and, for sure, we are
going in the right direction. Iʹm
proud of what we have achieved
from scratch. I think there is
massive potential for us to grow in
the future, and Iʹd like to remain a
part of that. We are always looking
at ways to give our viewers
something different, a unique
sports viewing experience. As long
as we continue to do this, Eurosport
will always be successful."
A sentiment that would surely
chime with a certain Mr Buffett.
■
Hoekstra on doing business in
Asia-Pacific
"One of the biggest challenges is
to adapt to all the different
cultures out here, as the
differences are more pronounced
than in Europe. You are dealing
with different civilisations, with
different customs and different
ways of doing business, but also
with different ways of consuming
sport and TV in general. The
biggest challenge in the beginning
was to understand those markets,
to understand where Eurosport
could play a role and also to
understand how I should be in my
relationship with clients."
India is
the last
frontier
“
”
