TORONTO, July 25, 2014 /CNW/ - Asian Television Network International
Limited (ATN) (TSX-SAT), Canada's largest South Asian Broadcaster and
pioneer broadcaster of Cricket, is pleased to announce that it has
acquired exclusive Broadcast rights for the first ever Pro - Kabaddi
League to be held in India from July 26th to August 31st, 2014.
The Pro - Kabaddi League (PKL) is a professional kabaddi league in India, based on the format of the Indian Premier League
(IPL). The first edition of the tournament will feature eight
franchises consisting of players from around the world. The 8 teams
will play in a caravan format, travelling together to all 8 venues to
play a total of 60 league matches. The top scoring four teams at the
end of the group stages will play in the Semi Finals at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on August 29th & the Finals will be held on August 31st, 2014. The 8 franchise teams competing for the cup are… Bengal
Warriors, Bengaluru Bulls, Dubang Delhi, Jaipur Pink Panthers (owned by
Bollywod Superstar Abhishek Bachchan), Patna Pirates, Puneri Paltan,
Telugu Titans & U Mumba. Each game will be shot by state of the art
equipment with 12 cameras and the broadcast will also feature Ultra -
motion, Overhead shots & Super slo-motion.
The league has the formal backing of the International Kabaddi
Federation (IKF), the Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF) & the Amateur
Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI), who will be closely associated with
this event. ATN will carry all 60 games LIVE on 6 ATN channels in 2
different languages. CBN & ATN Cricket Plus will air the games in
English language, whereas 4 other ATN channels will air the games in
Hindi/Punjabi.
"We are very excited to bring this first ever Professional Kabaddi
League to Canada on 6 of our channels. We have always tried to give our
viewers different programming options from time to time and I am sure
this league will be very well received as it is one of the most popular
sport in South Asia" said Dr. Shan Chandrasekar, President and CEO of
ATN. "We want to promote Kabaddi in Canada and showcase it as a World
class sport." he added
Kabaddi is an ancient Indian sport, in which two teams take turns to
send a raider to the other's territory, tag members of the opposing
team, and return "home" without being blocked by defenders on the other
side. It is the national game of Bangladesh and the state game of
Punjab Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh in India and is also popular in
Pakistan.
About ATN:
ATN serves Canada's diverse cultural communities with 52 specialty
television channels. The Company offers its flagship ATN-HD general
interest service, 5 Bollywood movie channels and a variety of channels
that include 3 sports Channels, 3 news Channels, 3 music Channels, 3
lifestyle Channels, 3 Chinese Channels, 6 Punjabi channels, and several
regional language channels. ATN operates a South Asian Radio Service on
Satellite Radio across The United States and Canada. Some ATN content
is also available on any Bell mobile phone that supports video. ATN has
programming alliances with leading international broadcasters like Star
Network (News Corp), Sony Entertainment Television, Viacom, Times
Television Network, B4U Network, NDTV, Disney and many more. ATN
channels are available on various Cable, Satellite and IPTV Platforms
across Canada like Shaw Cable, Bell TV, Rogers Cable, Bell Fibe TV,
TELUS Optic TV, Cogeco Cable, V Media and Others.
We rely on safe harbour provision.
SOURCE Asian Television Network International Limited