Abbas and Barnes in a 4-4-2 line-up

Abbas Saad and Peter Barnes joining forces?

Picture this scenario - Barnes receives a pass near the byline, slaloms past two defenders, plays a one-two with Abbas. This sets up Barnes nicely for a one-to-one situation but the opposing keeper is quick to smother the winger's effort. Latching on to the loose ball, Abbas finds the net! And voila...Johor lifting the AFC Champions League title...

Peter Barnes' forays on the flanks was a joy to watch in the 70s and early 80s...

That's Abbas seated extreme right. This was a complete team, with two playmakers Khalid Shahdan and Nasir Yusof supplying the ammunition for Alistair Edwards and Abbas and of course Ervin Boban! The supremo was Datuk Suleiman Mohd Noor (standing left).

In reality, they have joined forces, swapping the sweat-laden jerseys for a tie and blazer...

Lee Choong Khay, Head of Sports Business; Abbas Saad, ex-Australia international and Johor legend; Jason Dasey, Host/Executive Producer of FourFourTwo; Jay Menon, Host of FourFourTwo; Peter Barnes, formerly of England, Man City and Man Utd; Roshan Narayan, Reporter of FourFourTwo

PRESS RELEASE

Football fans will get more BPL matches on Astro’s On Air, Online and Mobile
New channel, ASSP3 (817) for more LIVE coverage

Kuala Lumpur, September 8, 2010 – Astro customers who subscribed to the sports package have more viewing choices during the Barclays Premier League (BPL) through a multi-screen experience – on-air, online and on mobile.

In going beyond customers’ expectations for an unrivalled and complete viewing experience of one of the most popular football leagues in the world, particularly for LIVE games, a new sports channel, Astro SuperSport 3 (CH817) has been introduced to allow more LIVE coverage of the English Premier League clubs in action.

Lee Choong Khay, Head of Sports Business at Astro said, “With the exclusive rights to BPL in Malaysia through our collaboration with ESPN STAR Sports for the next three years, we are committed to bringing all 380 matches to our customers, with more LIVE matches and in HD than ever before. On average, customers can look forward to at least 8 LIVE matches per match week. Further, customers have a choice to catch LIVE streaming of selected matches online and on mobile via the Astro B.player and ESPN Player application via stadiumastro.com.”

“The recent World Cup was the first time we moved into a new sports proposition where customers had more choices and flexibility to access our sports content through different touch-points. Whether they are at home in front of the television, at a cafe with a laptop or with a mobile phone waiting to commute home, we aim to bring as many LIVE BPL matches and highlights as possible to them.”

Astro sports package customers can enjoy LIVE video streaming of selected games via Astro B.player and ESPN Player on www.astro.com.my/stadiumastro through a simple registration on the website. More LIVE matches will be introduced in stages throughout the season. iPhone users will be delighted to know that they can now watch the BPL games LIVE at no cost for a limited time by downloading Astro’s B.player app for free.

Apart from the BPL games on the weekend, football fans can enjoy daily football content covering English as well as the other European and Asian football scenes across the sports channels on Astro during weekdays with more news, programmes and highlights featuring popular hosts, pundits and guest commentators.

Every Tuesdays at 9PM on Astro SuperSport 3 (CH 817), FourFourTwo, Malaysia’s popular football talkshow is back this season with the latest news, highlights, expert opinion and predictions on who will reign as the champion this season. Hosted by Jason Dasey, Jay Menon and Roshan Narayan, this high-rating English football show returns with a one-hour BPL centric review and discussion show.

In conjunction the BPL season, customers can participate in weekly SMS polls. Tune in to FourFourTwo (BPL) – Tuesdays 9pm on ASSP 3 (Ch 817), for poll topics and poll results.
*For full programme information, refer to Table A.

For a uniquely Malaysian experience, tune into Bola@Mamak, every Wednesday at 9PM on Astro SuperSport 3 (CH 817) as female hosts Linora Low and Edleen Ismail bring you a 30-minute cutting-edge BPL flavoured chat show in a truly Malaysian setting of a mamak stall. Viewers can share their thoughts during this BPL season by sending in their feedback via SMS to respond to the topic of the week.

Astro has also introduced new supporting BPL programming produced by the Premier League on ASSP 3 such as Football Today, BPL News, BPL Fanzone, John Dykes interview programmes and much more.

In addition to BPL, Astro is also bringing more LIVE football action from the other premier leagues around the world, including the Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, French Ligue and J-League.

“Apart from the leagues, we are also bringing the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, English FA Cup and the Carling Cup. It’s going to be a truly football overload experience for our customers as we will now have more LIVE football action with the launch of Astro SuperSport 3 (CH817),” said Lee.

With the introduction of Astro SuperSport 3 (CH817), Astro sports package customers have access to 9 sports channels in addition to 2 HD sports channels.

Consumers can call 1 300 82 3838 or visit www.astro.com.my to subscribe to the sports pack.