Africa

Siyaya TV has secured a broadcasting licence ahead of the start of its new rights deal for South Africa national football team coverage.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports will resume full live coverage in the Middle East and North Africa of English Premier League football matches that kick off at 15.00 on Saturdays in the UK.

The Fox International Channels (FIC) Europe & Africa regional broadcast division of media company 21st Century Fox has appointed Hannelie Bekker as managing director of FIC Africa, according to the Mediaupdate.co.za website.

Indian sports and entertainment pay-television channel Sony Six has acquired broadcasting rights in the Indian sub-continent to the 2014-15 edition of South Africa’s domestic T20 Challenge cricket tournament.

The North American NBA basketball league has signed up a host of regional partners for its new NBA Sundays localised broadcast initiative.

The Kombat Sport pay-television channel has agreed a deal to broadcast the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts series in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and sub-Saharan Africa in 2015 and 2016.

Lega Serie A, the governing body of the top division of Italian football, and its strategic media rights advisor, the Infront Sports & Media agency, have launched a tender for the international broadcast rights to Serie A.

Sub-Saharan Africa pay-television operator SuperSport has stepped in to acquire the free-to-air rights in the region to England’s Premier League after local rights-holder, Optima Sports Management International, defaulted on its payments.

The Fox International Channels broadcast subsidiary of media company 21st Century Fox has appointed Caleb Weinstein, a former executive of electronic commerce company Amazon, as its executive-vice-president of affiliate distribution for Europe and Africa.

SuperSport, the pay-television broadcaster that operates in Sub-Saharan Africa, has acquired rights for the 2014 edition of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament.

The TV Media Sport agency has secured the television distribution rights for the 2014-15 season of Serie A, the top division of Italian football, across sub-Saharan Africa.

The Discovery Networks Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) division of US media and entertainment company Discovery Communications is to merge its distribution team with that of pan-regional sports broadcaster Eurosport.

SuperSport, the pay-television broadcaster that operates in Sub-Saharan Africa, has acquired rights for the TNA Impact Wrestling series.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has agreed a sublicence deal with state-owned broadcaster Dubai Sports Channels to broadcast the 2014-15 season of football’s German Bundesliga on an exclusive basis in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The CAA Eleven agency completed a host of new deals for Uefa European Qualifiers rights at the end of July, with strong results in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports opened its coverage of football’s English Premier League with a restricted service in the United Arab Emirates at the weekend as it continues to battle against piracy issues.