April 9/10 8:42 am - ASO & Tour of California Extend TV Agreement

Posted by Editoress on 04/9/10
 

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and AEG, owners respectively of the Tour de France and the Amgen Tour of California cycling races, announced that they have expanded their media partnership to provide unprecedented coverage of the Amgen Tour of California in 2010, which will now take place in May at the heart of the cycling season.

Beginning with the upcoming 2010 Amgen Tour of California, which will be held May 16-23, ASO will assume responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the race’s television production.  ASO will bring the award-winning Tour de France television production team to California, including Jean-Maurice Ooghe, who has directed the television broadcast for many Tour de France races. As part of the enhancements in 2010,  the entire Amgen Tour of California will be shot and distributed in high definition, showcasing the picturesque landscape of California to a global audience, including Eurosport in Europe and the Versus network in the United States.

In addition to production of the broadcast, ASO will continue to assist AEG with the international distribution of the Amgen Tour of California television and digital media rights.  ASO will develop, produce and distribute a portfolio of programming formats, including a daily highlights and recap package.  In 2009, the race was distributed to more than 200 countries and territories and was seen live in more than 90 countries on some of the main cycling channels worldwide, including Eurosport in Europe, Versus in the United States, J Sports in Japan, SBS in Australia, Dubai Sports Channel in the Middle East and HiTV in Africa.

“We are pleased to be entering the third year of this partnership with AEG and the Amgen Tour of California and are looking forward to expanding the services that we will be providing to this year’s race,” said Yann Le Moenner, deputy managing director, ASO.  “We are proud to be producing and distributing the broadcast images of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California on an international platform, demonstrating that our expertise is recognized not only in Europe, but worldwide.”

“AEG is delighted to grow our partnership with the Amaury Sport Organization, which is the world’s best organizer of bicycle races,” said Andrew Messick, president, AEG Sports.  “We expect that ASO will provide viewers around the world with both an extraordinary documentation of the race and a showcase of the incredible beauty and diversity of the state of California.”