Television coverage of the British Superbike Championship (BSB) across the British Eurosport and ITV networks in the UK will exceed a staggering 250-hours of total broadcast time in 2009. Starting at Brands Hatch on Easter Monday (13 April), British Eurosport 2 will kick off the first of 14 live broadcasts. A total of 55 hours live coverage presented from all events will include the 26 British Superbike races plus over 30 supporting races. For the Superbike and Supersport classes there will be a same day 90 minutes highlights show plus multiple repeats. In addition to their live exposure the support classes also get their own BSB “Extras” show which will be shown on Thursdays and Saturdays. The total British Eurosport 2 coverage will exceed 190 hours with each programme presented by Tony Carter with commentary from the popular duo of Jack Burnicle and James Whitham. International fans will be able to see all Superbike races from each event either live or as-live throughout Europe and Asia on Eurosport 2 and Eurosport Asia-Pacific, reaching 35 million homes in 53 countries. In addition, BSB will return to the ITV network, ensuring that the Championship is available on a UK “free-to-air” platform. This new deal will see one-hour programmes from each of the twelve BSB events shown first on ITV 4 on Saturday afternoons following each event and then repeated midweek on the main ITV 1 terrestrial station. Each programme will have further weekend repeats on ITV 4 (and ITV4+1) and on Men and Motors to bring ITV’s planned coverage up to 60 hours. The BSB shows, produced by ITV Sport, will feature the best highlights action from the previous weekend’s Superbike races, together with grid walks, post race interviews, behind the scenes features and exclusive competitions. Nine-times BSB race winner James Haydon will front the programmes. All BSB broadcasts on both Eurosport and ITV will be available online at www.eurosport.yahoo.co.uk and www.itv.com respectively for on-demand viewing. MotorSport Vision Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer said: “I am thrilled to be able to announce what amounts to the biggest ever TV package for a British motorsport series. In Eurosport we have a partner who holds the complete TV bikesport portfolio of BSB, MotoGP and World Superbikes whilst ITV ensures that BSB is on a free to air network and available to the widest possible audience. The combination will ensure that each of the BSB events will receive over twenty hours of broadcast coverage which is great news for fans, the teams and very importantly their sponsors.” For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com