Champions League cricket gets the best of broadcasting technology

ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), Asia's leading Sports Broadcaster, has been appointed the preferred bidder as the long-term global television production partner for the Champions League twenty 20 by Champions League Twenty20 Committee.

ESPN STAR Sports recently acquired exclusive global commercial rights of the league for a period of 10 years after a successful bid. ESS and Champions League twenty20 are currently finalising the necessary long form agreement.Read full story about the deal here.

ESS has lined up a series of innovative and new features to create the most compelling presentation of the tournament that begins December 3, 2008 in India.

• One of the firsts includes a High Definition (HD) telecast of the championship, making it the first HD telecast for any sporting event in the Indian subcontinent.
  
  
• Another first will be the use of as many as 34 cameras at each venue to cover all the matches - the highest number of cameras used to cover any multi venue cricket tournament to date.
  
  
• It will include many interesting angles like aerial views with Fly cameras, a boundary side field camera to showcase fielding and a new mid-wicket camera position to highlight running between the wickets that will deliver another new viewing dimension to viewers.
  
  
• To capture every moment of the fast paced action both on and off the field, ESS will use Super Slow Motion cameras at each match, player and umpire microphones as well as new dugout and crowd cameras to capture the reactions and emotions off the field, bringing fans closer to the action like never before.
  
  
• In addition, ESS will be using a new suite of graphics for the broadcast, specially developed for the Champions League twenty20 by a Hollywood based production house, and utilizing a range of new statistics specifically tailored for the Twenty20 format to further enhance the viewing experience of audience.
  
  
• In addition, a special champions league anthem for the tournament has been composed by the renowned music maestro A R Rahman who is known for his stellar work that transcends boundaries and has various hits under his belt including the popular international musical 'Bombay Dreams'. Different versions of the anthem will feature in the presentation including title sequence, music video and other on-air elements.

So Champions League cricket fans buckle up and enjoy the cricket extravaganza!!