FIH deal with PTV promises Hero Honda FIH World Cup to be highest watched ever

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has finalized a deal for its terrestrial rights in Pakistan with state channel Pakistan Television (PTV). The four-year deal will start with PTV’s live televising of the Hero Honda FIH World Cup, which begins on Sunday 28 February.

With a historic India v Pakistan encounter highlighting the opening day’s play, the addition of PTV’s 17 million homes to the Hero Honda FIH World Cup’s portfolio of broadcasters promises to make the event the highest watched hockey event ever. In the subcontinent alone, PTV joins India’s national state channel Doordarshan 110 million homes, meaning approximately 600 million people (average 5 per home) will be able to watch the world’s highest prized hockey event. Pan-subcontinental satellite broadcaster Ten Sports will also broadcast all matches live to its 10 million households.

Spanning all five continents, the Hero Honda FIH World Cup’s list of broadcasters and expected coverage is as follows. Please check local schedules for full details:

· Ten Sports (cable and satellite; India Subcontinent) – all matches live
· Astro Super sports (cable and satellite; Malaysia, Indonesia) – all matches live

· Starhub – (cable and satellite, Singapore) – all matches live or delayed
· PTV (terrestrial, Pakistan) – PAK matches and final
· NOS (terrestrial, Netherlands)– extended daily highlights and live coverage of selected matches

· Sport 1 (cable and satellite, Netherlands) – all matches live
· Teledeportes (digital terrestrial, Spain) – ESP matches and final
· Sport Digital (cable and satellite, Germany) – schedule TBC

· ARD/ZDF (terrestrial, Germany) – extended news
· Deutsche Welle (worldwide) – extended news
· Zee (cable and satellite; UK) – all matches live
· Cricket Plus (cable and satellite; USA and Canada) – all matches live and delayed
· ESPN Sur – (cable and satellite; Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay) – all Argentina matches plus final
· SKY SPORTS – (cable and satellite, New Zealand) – NZ matches and final
· FOX Sports (cable and satellite, Australia) – AUS matches and final
· Showtime – (cable and satellite; Middle East) – all matches live
· Supersports (cable and satellite, pan-Africa) – RSA matches and final

Internet pay per view – all matches available live and on-demand via WorldHockey.org

· Highlights available free via WorldHockey.org
· BBC Online – extended news
· Telegraph.co.uk – coverage TBC
· Sport1.de – all matches live

Source: FIH