1999's No. 1 Global Sporting Championship Set To Begin "Olympics of Cricket" To Be Broadcast Live in North America.

NEW YORK--(BW SportsWire)--May 13, 1999--

KBS Cricket to Kick-Off Exclusive Live Broadcasts on Friday, May 14

Kelly Broadcasting Systems (KBS), a United States-based global sports broadcaster, today announced an unprecedented initiative to broadcast the entire International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup live in North America.

The 1999 12-nation global tournament begins on Friday, May 14, and will feature host nation England vs. Sri Lanka. Other participating nations include Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Scotland, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the West Indies.

"KBS Cricket began with select broadcasts from the 1996 Cricket World Cup and the hunger for the sport in the United States and Canada has skyrocketed throughout the past few years. North America is the home to more than 14 million cricket fans and the ambitious broadcast schedule established by KBS will enable the avid and casual fan the opportunity to watch each and every match," said KBS President, Michael Kelly.

Fabled Lord's Cricket Ground in London will host the inaugural and championship matches with all games to be broadcast live beginning at 6:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time). Match broadcasts are projected to run through the morning into the early afternoon concluding at 3:00 PM (EST). In the opening round, all teams will compete in a round robin format with a total of 30 qualifying matches to be played between May 14 and May 31. The top six qualifiers -- " The Super Six" -- will then compete in another round of nine matches to narrow the field down to four semi-finalists. Super Six match play will begin on June 4. The semi-final matches will be contested on June 16 and 17 with the final slated for June 20.

Worldwide, more than 2 billion people will watch the 42 day tournament -- a figure exceeded only for the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games. The North American audience is expected to establish a new record for subscriber-based international sports programming. KBS has forged a series of strategic alliances to create a multiplicity of distribution platforms to reach fans through the United States, Canada and the West Indies. Key points of distribution include DTH (Direct to Home) Satellite transmission; traditional cable television; in select restaurants and bars; hotels; at universities, and traditional over the air broadcast (in the Caribbean).

Overall, the KBS World Cup initiative is projected to lead to a dedicated Cricket Channel on the DTH platform. Plans for such a channel are already underway. "Our focus right now is on producing the very best Cricket World Cup broadcasts available for cricket fans across North America and providing as many points of distribution as possible," said Mike Kelly. "Over the longer-term, our commitment to the sport will continue to grow and we envision a 24 hour channel as a logical progression as the passion for the sport continues to grow here in the USA and in Canada as well as the Caribbean," added Kelly.