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| North American Sports Network | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Launched | 5 December 2002 |
| Owned by | ESPN, Inc. |
| Audience share | N/A (Data Unknown, ) |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| Sky Digital | Channel 417 |
| Canal Digital | Channel 23 |
| Canal Digitaal Satelliet | Channel 33 |
| Canal Sat | Channel 95 |
| n | Channel 65 |
| SKY Italia | Channel 213 |
| D-SMART Turkey | Channel 79 |
| meo Satélite | N/A |
| Cable | |
| Virgin Media | Channel 533 |
| UPC Ireland | Channel 410 |
| UPC Romania | Channel 80 |
| Cablecom | Channel 104 |
| Com Hem | Channel 110 |
| Ziggo (Netherlands) | Channel 412 |
| Cabovisão Digital | Channel 69 |
| UPC Austria | Channel 303 |
NASN, the North American Sports Network, is a European sports network, focusing on professional sports of the United States and Canada. Originally launched in December 2002, NASN broadcasts a selection of top North American professional and collegiate sports leagues (MLB, NHL, NFL, NCAA, CFL, plus more) 24 hours a day on digital cable and digital satellite. The channel has been owned by ESPN since March 2007.1
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NASN programming
Programming on NASN varies from country to country. Currently, the channel operates at least two feeds throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and the Scandinavian countries events currently seen on NASN include Major League Baseball, the College World Series, NCAA college football and college basketball, the National Hockey League and the Frozen Four plus the Arena Football League, Major League Lacrosse, and the NCAA Men's Final Four. NASN paid £11.6m in March 2006 for the rights to show ten live Major League Baseball games a week.2
In 2006, ESPN programs, including Baseball Tonight, Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption were dropped from the schedule as the contract between NASN and ESPN ended, but they returned from 1 April 2007 when the contract was renewed.3
NASN also airs other specialty single-sport programs, like College Football Live and NASCAR Now.
Sale to ESPN
In late 2006, NASN's owners, Benchmark Capital Europe and Setanta Sports, agreed to sell the network to ESPN for €70m. 4
The sale was completed in March 2007 but NASN continues to be part of the Setanta Sports Pack on satellite television.15
In December 2007, it was announced that ESPN was interested in making a bid for the 2009 contract to air the FA Premier League. It also announced that it would also soon begin focusing more on UK sports, with plans to relaunch under the ESPN name, although a date was not specified. 6
On 2 October 2008, it was announced that the channel would be rebranded as ESPN America on 1st February 2009 to coincide with Super Bowl XLIII. The channel will continue to provide its current lineup of North American sports programming.7
See also
References
- ^ a b NASN. "ESPN TO ACQUIRE NASN". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Sabbagh, Dan (2006-03-13). "NASN to show live baseball in Europe", The Times. Retrieved on 7 August 2007.
- ^ "ESPN Programming Is Back On NASN". NASN. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ^ Hancock, Ciaran (2006-12-03). "Ireland: TV3 grabs Setanta stake", The Times. Retrieved on 7 August 2007.
- ^ "Overview of Setanta Sports Pack". Setanta.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ Broadcasting - News - ESPN wants Premier League rights - Digital Spy
- ^ "NASN to become ESPN America". Digital Spy (2008-10-02). Retrieved on 2008-10-02.
External links
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