TV rights 2: English cricket, football, US college sport and more

Cricket: UK pay-broadcaster BSkyB extended its deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board for a further four years, from 2010 to 2013, paying about £260m (€330m).  The deal covers 26 Test matches, 46 one-day internationals, eight international Twenty20 matches, the new Stanford Cup quadrangular series, the English Premier League and other county competitions.  Commercial broadcaster Five will continue to show highlights of international matches at 7.15pm.  The ECB said that overall the deals were worth £300m, a figure thought to include marketing spend.  ECB  chairman Giles Clarke criticised the BBC after the corporation failed to bid for the second auction in a row and called for a debate on public-service broadcasting.  The BBC had informed the board it would have trouble scheduling coverage after unexpectedly picking up Formula One rights.  Clarke said: “The BBC must answer to all those cricket fans about how investment in sport is prioritised.  They make investments in 12 other sports; do these sports attract the same level of participation?  How many people play Formula One?”The BBC replied that it was “astonished” at what it regarded as “absurd” claims.  “We have always said that any bid for live Test cricket would be subject to value for money and being able to fit into our scheduling.  In our view, neither of these criteria were met.  We have consistently argued that not having cricket as a listed event puts it out of the reach of terrestrial broadcasters.”