Fox Sports announces plans to end services in Taiwan

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) Fox Sports Taiwan announced Friday that it is planning to terminate its services in the local market, but it did not say why or indicate when its broadcasts will end.

"We are planning to terminate the operations of Fox Sports in Taiwan," the company said in a brief statement in Chinese, adding that viewers will be notified when there are further developments.

Operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia), the company currently operates three channels in Taiwan -- Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2 and Fox Sports 3.

Fox Sports 3 is only available on Chunghwa Telecom's multimedia-on-demand (MOD) service.

Some employees at Fox Sports said Friday they were not aware that the company has plans to leave Taiwan.

Fox Sports, formerly called ESPN Star Sports, has in recent years been very active in helping promote student sporting events in Taiwan, most notably the High School Basketball League (HBL) and the University Basketball Association (UBA).

It also broadcasts many international sporting events, including U.S. Major League Baseball games and Japanese professional baseball games, tennis grand slam events, Formula 1 auto racing, and major golf tournaments.