WorldSBK debuts in Thailand and enjoys increased TV coverage
The eni FIM WorldSBK makes an historic debut in Thailand for the second round of the series at Chang International Circuit this weekend. This event, and the rest of the coming season, will enjoy improved and wider-spread TV coverage as new markets come on board and more feature content is made available.
The Dutch commercial network RTL 7 is the newest arrival and will feature one-hour race highlights aired after most of the events, starting with the Thai round. Following the successful World Superbike debut of local hero Michael van der Mark, WSS World Champion in 2014, the Dutch F2A channel has a special preview scheduled for the Assen round (17–19 April).
Leading Italian broadcaster Mediaset Italia will continue to provide a wider coverage of all the action on Saturdays and Sundays after the encouraging audience numbers of the Australian Round, which reached a peak of 2 million on race day.
European fans can follow all of the action on the long-time WorldSBK broadcasting partner Eurosport. With four british riders in the top four in Australia, WorldSBK will have as always a huge interest for UK fans that will be able to follow all the Live coverage provided once again by Eurosport UK. On the other hand, Britain’s Channel 4 airs the 26-minute magazine on a free-to-air basis.
With a powerful Spanish Armada led by Jordi Torres, David Salom and Nico Terol on the 2015 WorldSBK grid, Teledeporte is screening the majority of races live for free-to-air viewing in Spain.
Fox Sport Australia was once again providing in-depth coverage for the Down-under round in Phillip Island one month ago and will continue broadcasting all the races of the Championship on Live-basis. SBS, the F2A national network, will continue to broadcast the 26-minute recap of the each event for all the Australian fans.
Given the huge importance of the Championship for the Asian motorcycling community, FOX Sports Asia will carry on broadcasting the Series for all Asian racing enthusiasts. In addition, the new Thai chapter will be live on the free-to-air national network Channel 3, both for the Superpole on Saturday and race day on Sunday.
In addition, the awareness of the eni FIM WorldSBK will increase in Thailand, thanks to the Free-to-air Channel True4You that will broadcast all of the 26-minute highlight programmes for the rest of the season. Meanwhile in Japan, fans can enjoy every moment of the 2015 season, as all World Superbike races are live for the first time on J-Sports.
Thanks to all the WorldSBK pan-continental partners, the production-based motorcycle World Series is now available to viewers almost everywhere around the world. SuperSport Pan-Africa will deliver an even more extensive coverage of every event on the calendar.
FOX Latin America, ESPN+Brazil and USA network beIN US continue to provide greater coverage not only because South American riders such reigning Superstock 1000 Champion Leandro `Tati’ Mercado from Argentina and multi AMA race winner Martin Cardenas from Colombia are racing, but also to focus on the many Spanish and American riders competing in the series this year.
Qatari fans can follow the path to the season’s grand finale set for October 18th at the Losail International Circuit on beIN MENA.
In order to enhance Superbike coverage even more, this year Dorna WSBK Organization will be providing more top-quality news and features, with interviews, racing and behind-the-scenes content for its partners as the season gains momentum.
The online visibility of the eni FIM WorldSBK has vastly increased over the past year. Comparing data from the Australian Round in 2014 and 2015, the WorldSBK.com website increased its incoming traffic from social networks by an impressive 192%, while the user-reach of the official WorldSBK Facebook page elevated to a whole new level, being up no less than 330%.
The official Twitter account of the WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) also played an important role in the higher profile of the series, as user engagement rose by a staggering 1,675%, while the number of ‘favourite tweets’ increased by 626.9%.
The eni FIM WorldSBK is also present on Instagram and YouTube.