±±¾©Èü³µpk10

The broadcaster, which has begun the pitch process to find a third-party advertising sales house, is planning to unveil the ESPN Classic Sport format on the Sky Digital platform as early as the end of the month.

The channel shows major sporting events from the past three decades, including everything from past Wimbledon finals to action from the British Open golf.

But in the UK it is also planning many original programmes based on the sporting personalities behind the big events.

ESPN's classic sports format, which is also expected to launch on cable, first appeared in Europe in France in 2002 and is now available in nearly 40 European countries, including Germany and Italy.

The channel will have more of an emphasis on British sports, such as football and cricket, with the World Cup a major focus for this year, said Chris Nicholls, ESPN's director of advertising sales, Europe, and a former veteran at ITV sales.

Andy Zonfrillo, head of investment at MindShare, said he believed the channel could find a successful niche audience in the UK.

"It all comes down to content and how well they promote it with so much competition around. But, for example, if they had action from previous Ryder Cup competitions and played them during the run-up to the next event, I think there would be an audience for that," he added.

The channel's European outlets are currently showing highlights of previous Winter Olympics to capitalise on this year's event.

Meanwhile, Zone Vision Networks has revealed plans to launch a spin-off to its Reality TV channel.

Reality Extra will launch on 28 February, to air alongside the Reality TV and Reality TV+1 on BskyB. It will provide real-life enactment programmes and shows inspired by actual events.

Reality TV increased its UK audience by 14% last year and awarded its sales contract to Sky Media.

Chris Wronksi, chairman of Zone Vision Networks, said: "The on-going growth and demand for our Reality TV and Reality TV+1 channels has given us the impetus to launch an additional and expanded Reality TV service."