China: Free Premier League Games to End

Beginning with the 2007-2008 season, Premier League games will shift from free coverage on ESPN-Star to pay-per-view broadcasting in a rights deal won by Guangdong-based WinTV, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday. ESPN-Star is a joint venture between ESPN Inc. and Star Group, whose parent companies are the Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. Ltd., respectively.

"It's time to say goodbye to those TV channels that provided Premier League games free of charge," said WinTV Chief Executive Song Zheng. He declined to say what his company paid for the broadcast rights.

Song said the cost for pay-per-view would be $24 monthly.

Song, whose station has just 40,000 subscribers, said he was confident of winning over viewers. China is estimated to have 30 million fans who watch the live Premier League games.

"I know that most Chinese people have been getting used to viewing soccer matches on free channels," Song said. "It will be difficult to change this habit in the beginning, but I believe that more and more people will choose pay-TV in the future."