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ESPN Star Sports To Broadcast Championship Gaming Series in Asia

-Asia’s leading sports broadcaster first to bring global gaming phenomenon to millions Asia-wide

ESPN STAR Sports will broadcast the Championship Gaming Series (CGS) every Monday, 6:00 PM HKT on STAR Sports across Asia. The weekly hour-long program will feature highlights from the regional playoffs and championships for North America, UK/Europe, Asia and the upcoming CGS 2007 World Championship.

CGS will elevate the growing phenomenon of professional gaming to a new level by using advanced technology to take viewers inside the games themselves. Viewers can catch the action as multiple "in-game" cameras follow the games as they are being played, allowing viewers to fully experience the match as with any other professional sport. Spectacular graphics help tell the story of what is happening on-screen and the broadcast will also feature multiple angles of gameplay.

Aficionados and new fans alike will appreciate the analytical insights and commentary of gaming legend Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, who will capture the action as the exclusive play-by-play commentator and CGS spokesperson. With a roster of the best pro gamers in the world, unparalleled production values and world-class televised sports coverage; CGS is set to become the benchmark in professional gaming worldwide.

"We are excited about bringing the Championship Gaming Series to a rapidly growing gaming enthusiast audience in Asia. We have been focusing our efforts to bring such programming to our audience and earlier this year, we had launched Game, on STAR Sports which is increasingly becoming very popular. We are confident of expanding this audience base manifold with the Championship Gaming Series which is a unique competition and program that is bound to be a favourite amongst the gaming enthusiasts," said Nick Wilkinson, Vice President, Programming, South East Asia, ESPN STAR Sports.

"ESPN STAR Sports is a natural partner for the league, since ESPN is sports and CGS represents the elevation of professional gaming into a true worldwide sport." said Andy Reif, Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner of Championship Gaming Series, "We have deep respect for the Asian gaming markets and bringing CGS programming to Asia is a top priority. We are proud to join forces with the sports leaders at ESPN STAR Sports and thrilled to help bring CGS to more than 310 million of their viewers in Asia."

CGS, the only worldwide professional gaming league, features teams from six regions – Asia, North America, Latin America, UK/Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. Players are athletes who compete in four official League games: Counterstrike: Source, Dead or Alive 4, Project Gotham Racing 3 and FIFA 07. The CGS World Championship will bring top CGS teams from around the world to Los Angeles from December 6-14, 2007, to battle for US$1,000,000, with US$500,000 going to the top team. The Asian Final will take place from October 15-18, 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

For more information on CGS, log on to www.thecgsasia.com.

Programming for October-December 2007
Mondays, 6:00PM HKT, STAR Sports

October 15, 22, 29, November 5, 12, 19 - CGS USA Regional Playoffs and Championship
November 26, December 3, 10 - CGS Asian Playoffs
December 17, 24, 31 - CGS Asian Championship

About ESPN STAR Sports:
ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia's definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies – Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) – to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay and free-to-air services.

ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of more than 310 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 17 networks covering 24 countries, each localized to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN Asia, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN Singapore, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports Singapore, STAR Sports Southeast Asia, STAR Sports Taiwan, and STAR Cricket.

On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw and footballcrazy.tv interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions.