SIGNIFICANT NEW DEVELOPMENT FOR THE FIM EWC:
LIVE IN JAPAN VIA NIPPON TV
The FIM Endurance world championship can now be watched live in Japan, following the signing of an agreement between Japan’s leading broadcaster Nippon Television Network Corporation (“Nippon TV”) and Eurosport Events.
After showing the highlights of the 2017-2018 season’s races, for the first time ever Japan’s leading broadcaster Nippon TV will give Japanese audiences access to live coverage of every round of the 2018-2019 FIM EWC through Nippon TV Holdings (a parent company of Nippon TV) Group’s various platforms.
Nippon TV Holdings is a sizeable platform grouping Nippon TV, BS Nippon TV, CS Nippon TV and digital streaming service Hulu Japan (which carries the MotoGP, among other sports).
Starting with the Bol d’Or this coming September, all the FIM EWC races will be streamed live on the digital platform Hulu, while the BS Nippon TV channel and CS Nittele G+ channel will broadcast the highlights of each race as well as live coverage of the Suzuka 8 Hours. Suzuka 8 Hours live coverage on BS Nippon was made possible by concluding new agreement with Mobilityland Corp. -owns and runs Suzuka Circuit. Now NTV broadcasts the world’s two major motorcycle races in Japan, one of which is MotoGP held at Twin Ring Motegi which is also run by Mobilityland Corp.
The broadcast agreement covers both the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 FIM EWC seasons. The latter season will see the introduction of a new race, the Sepang 8 Hours, in Malaysia in December 2019.
François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events
When we took the decision two years ago to make the Suzuka 8 Hours the Grand Finale of the EWC, we were hoping it would raise the Japanese bike industry’s interest in endurance and attract Japanese teams / riders into the World Championship. We are delighted to have Nippon TV on board up to the end of 2019-2020 season: their broadcast standards are the highest in Japan and they have the strongest bike racing community fan base thanks to long-time Moto GP coverage. Each EWC round will benefit from comprehensive coverage across the Nippon TV platform, which will allow Japanese fans to engage with endurance and follow the progress of Japanese teams and riders from the Bol d’Or up to the Suzuka Grand Finale. After the Sepang 8 Hours announcement, the Nippon TV agreement is another milestone for EWC since Eurosport Events became promoter in 2015.
Itaru Matsuoka, Executive Vice President, Chief Producer, Sports Division, Nippon TV
Nippon TV as a Group (HULU, BS Nippon TV, CS Nippon TV platforms) has concluded a broadcast contract of the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) series with Eurosport in which the final race will be held at Suzuka again next year. Nippon TV has been broadcasting the Motorcycle World Championship series MotoGP on our group’s various platforms for many years. By broadcasting the FIM EWC series including Suzuka 8 hours, we would like to meet the expectations of more motorsports fans.
This year’s Suzuka 8 hours race ended with Yamaha’s 4th consecutive victory, and history was made with first ever Japanese team to win the FIM EWC championship on Honda bike.
We are excited to broadcast the FIM EWC series which concludes the season at Suzuka 8 hours event, with many Japanese riders, teams and manufacturers involved.
Susumu Yamashita, Mobilityland Corp. President
The broadcast of the entire series of the FIM Endurance World Championship by Nippon Television Network will help increase the event’s popularity all year round. As the organizer of the series final the “Coca Cola” Suzuka 8 Hours, this has been a most gratifying development.
For many years NTV has collaborated with us and televised the MotoGP which is held at our sister racing track, the Twin Ring Motegi. From now on we will work together in two major motorcycle world championships. We have no doubt that NTV will reach a wide variety of viewers.
The Sepang 8 Hours in Malaysia has been added to next season’s FIM EWC calendar. The race will be the first selection race for the Suzuka 8 Hours. It will open the door for Asian participants to compete at Suzuka.
We will continue to work closely with Eurosport Events (the FIM EWC promoter) and NTV and strive to make Suzuka 8 Hours an ever more entertaining event.
About Nippon TV:
Nippon TV is recognized as Japan’s viewer ratings champion having topped all timeslot categories for four consecutive years and garnering the largest profits in the country’s broadcasting industry. With well-established companies that deal in a broad range of businesses from eSports, android creation, digital mixed reality, animation, movies, events, to fitness clubs, Nippon TV is leveraging its coveted platform to revolutionize digital media in an ever-changing industry. Launching a channel in Southeast Asia named GEM through a joint venture with Sony Pictures Television Networks, and leading the digital content market through Hulu Japan -a subsidiary that boasts the largest SVOD subscriber base in the country, Nippon TV is steadily solidifying its presence and brand as a global media powerhouse.