ATN acquires exclusive Broadcast rights for first ever Indian Super League Soccer

TORONTO, Oct. 10, 2014 /CNW/ - Asian Television Network International Limited (ATN) (TSXV-SAT), Canada's largest South Asian Broadcaster and pioneer broadcaster of Cricket, is pleased to announce that it has acquired exclusive Broadcast rights for the first ever Indian Super League to be held in India between October 12^th and December 20^th, 2014.

Indian Super league is India's unrivalled Football (Soccer) championship, supported by All India Football Federation (AIFF), backed by India's Reliance Industries, which is controlled by the country's richest man Mukesh Ambani, sports management giant IMG and Rupert Murdoch's Star TV. India's leading industrialists and celebrities from sports as well as the Indian film industry have invested in owning the Indian Super League's eight franchises which are based out of Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Sachin Tendulkar, who retired last year as the World's leading run-getter in both Test and one-day cricket, is co-owner of the Kochi franchise in the new league that has been modelled on the lines of cricket's cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).

The League is committed to investing in stadium refurbishment in the eight identified venues and also to a strong grassroots development programme that will create a platform to groom Soccer talent in the country. For the first time in Indian football, globally renowned Soccer players will be playing alongside the best Indian footballers. With a mission to revolutionize the sport, Indian Super League is positioned as a high quality and dynamic league that will elevate Indian football to an international level.

"We are very excited to bring this first ever Indian Super League to Canada on 4 of our channels. We recently aired Pro–Kabaddi League on our channels which got a phenomenal response from our viewers and I am sure they will be excited to see this league as well" said Dr. Shan Chandrasekar, President and CEO of ATN. "Our commitment to bring different programming options to our viewers continue with this new addition to our line-up" he added.

ATN serves Canada's diverse cultural communities with 52 specialty television channels. The Company offers its flagship ATN-HD general interest service and a variety of channels that include 3 sports Channels, 3 news Channels, 5 Bollywood movie channels, 4 music Channels, 3 lifestyle Channels, 3 Chinese Channels, 6 Punjabi channels, and several regional language channels. ATN operates a South Asian Radio Service on Satellite Radio across The United States and Canada. Some ATN content is also available on any Bell mobile phone that supports video. ATN has programming alliances with leading international broadcasters like Star Network (News Corp), Sony Entertainment Television, Viacom, Times Television Network, B4U Network, NDTV, Disney and many more. ATN channels are available on various Cable, Satellite and IPTV Platforms across Canada like Shaw Cable, Bell TV, Rogers Cable, Bell Fibe TV, TELUS Optic TV, Cogeco Cable, V Media and Others.

Indian Super league will feature 61 games including Final & Semi Finals and all 61 games will air LIVE on 4 ATN stations namely CBN, ATN Cricket Plus, ATN Punjabi Plus, and ATN Bangla.

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SOURCE: Asian Television Network International Limited

For further information: please visit www.asiantelevision.com or contact: Pramod Israni, Vice President - Marketing, Asian Television Network International Limited, 330 Cochrane Drive, Markham, Ontario L3R 8E4, Canada, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]