The Grid.co.uk    the national & club motor racing website - est1998          

  ^News

WTCC Drivers Championship Positions

1.Rickard Rydell  (SWE) 26

2.Gabriele Tarquini  (ITA) 24

3.Yvan Muller  (FRA) 22

4.Jordi Gené  (ESP) 15

5.Andy Priaulx  (ENG) 14

Manufacturers Championship

1.SEAT          69

2.BMW           40

3.Chevrolet    28

4.HONDA       0

.

WTCC TO INCREASE WORLDWIDE
TV COVERAGE IN 2008

The 2008 season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship goes on with the first European event this weekend (May 18^th) at Valencia, Spain, and the championship is set to benefit from an extensive TV coverage worldwide.

For the current season, Eurosport Events, the promoter of the WTCC through its subsidiary KSO, has signed agreements covering 160 countries over the five continents - especially in Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East.

The championship will be aired by more than 62 channels (+51 % compared to last year), including 37 terrestrial channels, 15 cable & satellite networks and 10 pan-regional channels.

• Important improvements in the TV distribution have been achieved in three key countries: United Kingdom (ITV4), Russia (TV Center) and Japan (free to air network TXN, which includes TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TV Setouchi, TV Hokkaido and TV Kyushu).

• WTCC also benefits from new live coverage on AYM (Mexico), ART (Middle East) and TV Paprika (Slovenja).

• The Eurosport Group grant extensive live coverage to the WTCC through the Eurosport network, reaching over 113 million homes across 59 countries, Eurosport 2, Eurosport Asia-Pacific, Eurosportnews and eurosport.com.

• In addition, Eurosport Events has renewed broadcast agreements for live or highlights coverage with the major free to air or pan-regional networks: NTV (Germany), Telecinco (Spain), TF1 (France), RTL 7 (NL), RAI (Italy), RTP (Portugal), Czech TV (Czech Republic), RTBF (Belgium), Globosat (Brazil), Gaora (Japan), CCTV (China), Zee (India) and ESS Star Sport (Pan Asia), amongst the most significant ones.

Most of these broadcasters will provide live or slightly delayed transmissions, depending on the time zones and broadcaster schedules.

News access is also available worldwide through news agencies such as Reuters, EVS and SNTV.

IFM independent German company has been appointed by Eurosport Events to track WTCC international feed on a global basis and deliver media ROI studies to WTCC stake holders.

The host broadcasting for the WTCC provides a state-of-the-art broadcast production, which includes up to 17 trackside cameras and 6 on-board cameras per race.

The race format has been designed to maximise the show for spectators at the track and TV viewers. Two 50-km sprint races provide exciting competition with as many as twenty drivers covered by less than one second.

François Ribeiro, Commercial & TV Rights Distribution Director of Eurosport Events, said: "We are very pleased to note that the TV coverage of WTCC is growing all over the world. WTCC is not only a great sporting show but a powerful communication platform for leading brands, especially through extensive broadcast coverage and new live streaming services. We are confident that this year's season will deliver another success story in terms of reach and exposure around the world, building on past successes." 

The 5^th and 6^th rounds of the 2008 WTCC will take place in Spain, at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo on May 17^th and 18^th. This event will mark the beginning of the championship's European leg after the first two successful race meetings held in Brazil and Mexico.

Four manufacturers - BMW, Chevrolet, Honda and SEAT - take part in the  season, which comprises of twelve race meetings held over three continents and will come to an end with the grand finale at Macau on November 16^th.

The Official Partners of the WTCC include five well-known international companies and brands: Yokohama (Official Tyre Supplier), Monroe (Official Suspension Partner), Courtyard by Marriott (Official Hotel Partner), fun.PokerRoom.com (Official Partner) and Stihl (Official Outdoor Power Equipment Partner).

mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk
 

The opinions expressed on this site are not necessarily shared by 11/56 MotorSport or any of theGrid team

Material Copyright © 2005 11/56 MotorSport