The Times today reports that British Sky Broadcasting is in talks with the sports cable network ESPN about launching a UK version of the 24-hour sports channel ESPN Classic Sport. ESPN Classic Sport is already available in 14 countries in Europe, broadcasting to 14m homes, and a deal with BSkyB would add a further 7m homes in Britain. France and Italy have dedicated versions of the station and ESPN has already said that it hopes to have a UK version up and running soon. ESPN is part of the Walt Disney Company, and produces more than 5,000 hours of original programming a year.
