Analysis

Motorsport’s Formula 1 had one of its worst television-viewing seasons in several of the sport’s top markets
Football

Six Premier League teams, including Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, increased their live-coverage television viewing

Cricket

Pay-television operator British Sky Broadcasting, at present locked in talks for the rights to domestic English Test cricket, is mopping up the rights for the England team’s overseas tours
Rugby Union

French public-service broadcaster France Télévisions, commercial broadcaster TF1 and pay-broadcaster Canal Plus look set to compete for the rights for rugby union’s World Cups in 2007 and 2011
Boxing

April’s two Formula 1 races were the most featured events of the month in the TV Sports Markets monthly survey of European viewing.
Boxing

US cable broadcaster ESPN has revived its interest in boxing almost a year after it seemed set to quit the sport.
Skiing

Italian public-service broadcaster Rai is close to finalising a deal with Italian agency Media Partners to acquire the rights for skiing’s alpine world cup.
Triathlon

UK television viewing of triathlon’s annual world championships fell by over a million viewers this year.
Rugby Union

The International Rugby Board has whittled down the five agencies it invited to bid for the commercial rights for rugby union’s 2007 World Cup to two.
Basketball

JCS Sports, which owns Israel’s two sports channels, has acquired the rights for top Israeli football and basketball matches

Hockey

The revival of the India-Pakistan hockey test series after an interval of five years has attracted high television interest.

Football

Three of biggest clubs are threatening to undermine the tender process with demands for a bigger share of television rights fees.
Athletics

Rugby league’s Challenge Cup final, in which St Helens beat Wigan 32-16, drew 1.66 million viewers and a 25-per-cent audience share to BBC1.
Football

Norges Fotballforbund, the national football association, agreed a four-year deal for the live and highlights rights for all major football competitions in Norwegian football
Football

Telesport hopes that its acquisition of English Premier League football will be the key content it has been striving for since it first tried to launch four years ago.

Basketball

The rocky marriage of Italian club basketball and state broadcaster Rai is to end in divorce.
Football

The Sportfive agency looks to be in a strong position to take the international rights of the rest of the Serie A clubs.

Rai Trade, commercial arm of state broadcaster Rai, is to quit the selling of sports rights on the international market.