This year’s FIM MotoGP World Championship will receive more coverage than ever before, thanks to the expansion of commercial rights-holders Dorna Sports’ portfolio of worldwide television broadcast partners and agreements which extend coverage in several key territories for the 2009 MotoGP Season. The portfolio expansion over recent months means that more than 65 networks will broadcast live coverage of MotoGP this season. Dorna have agreed television deals with national broadcasters across Europe, in countries such as Czech Republic, with Nova, Germany, with DSF, Greece, with Skai, Bulgaria, with BNT and France, with NT1 and Eurosport. Simultaneously, new agreements have been reached for the 2009 season with television partners in Bosnia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sweden and Ukraine, with all MotoGP races and qualifying sessions to be shown live in these markets. Meanwhile, extended coverage in territories such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Scandinavia, has seen broadcast partners in these territories request additional rights to increase their MotoGP programming on Grand Prix weekends. Audiences in these countries will now be able to watch all practices and races live, with full coverage from Fridays through to Sundays. In Asia, ESPN Star Sports will continue to broadcast MotoGP on its networks throughout the region. Ten Sports will also continue broadcasting through the Indian Subcontinent and NEO Sports will start to offer coverage of the championship in India. In China, new agreements with regional broadcasters including, Shanghai Media Group, Guangdong TV and the CSPN network, will see MotoGP beamed into a potential 139 million homes. In Japan besides G+ live coverage, NTV will offer same day delayed coverage of MotoGP races, plus the Grand Prix of Japan live. Free to air coverage will continue to be offered in Malaysia, in Indonesia by Trans7 and in Thailand, by Ch9. A new deal has also been reached with Mai TV in the Pacific Islands. In the United States Speed TV will cover every Grand Prix live, whilst the two U.S. GPs at Laguna Seca (California) and Indianapolis (Indiana) will be broadcast via national network Fox TV. MotoGP will be broadcast in Africa through Super Sport and a new deal has been agreed with TV Zimbo in Angola, a free to air broadcaster. In Australia, both Fox TV and Network Ten will continue their coverage of the championship and in New Zealand live coverage will be available on Sky TV with highlights being shown on a delayed basis on TVNZ. Al Jazeera Sports Channel, with full coverage through out the Middle East, has also renewed its agreement and will start its MotoGP live broadcasts with its home round next Sunday in Qatar. In Latin America, in addition to ESPN, Meridiano in Venezuela and Sport TV in Brazil will offer MotoGP to millions of further viewers. Dorna Sports’ Managing Director Manel Arroyo commented, “The prestige of MotoGP and its standing as a globally recognised sport was a key factor in our signing with 20 new television broadcast partners for this season. These agreements will allow many more MotoGP fans to easily access high quality, locally focused programming and the interest in MotoGP shown by broadcasters around the world this year again highlights the strength of our programming, the quality of our production and the excitement of watching Grand Prix racing live.”