Eastern Europe

Olympics: The Japan Consortium, consisting of public-service broadcaster NHK and commercial broadcasters Fuji TV, NTV, TV Asahi, TBS and Tokyo TV, acquired the media rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympics…

Romanian broadcaster Pro TV’s successful acquisition of Uefa Cup rights was also the third major defeat in a month for rival commercial channel Realitatea

Football: UK commercial broadcaster ITV acquired the rights for the first-choice Champions League match on Wednesdays in a three-year deal with the Team Marketing agency

Infront, and other suitors, did not like the rights guarantees ISPR had committed to

The TV Sports Markets monthly survey of European sports viewing in December shows Champions League second-phase matches topping the tables in six of 19 countries surveyed.

Women's World Championships draw good audiences in Norway, Germany, Romania

A determined attack on the football rights market last month by Romanian news channel Realitatea has ended in spectacular failure

Football: Polish public-service broadcaster TVP and commercial broadcaster Polsat agreed a joint-deal for the 2006 World Cup with the Infront agency worth €15m (£10.3m).

Olympics: New Zealand pay-broadcaster Sky Television and its free-to-air arm Prime acquired the rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympics in a $10.5m (£5.1m/€7.2m) deal with the International Olympic Committee.

Boom in fees partly explained by steep growth in television advertising rates

March will be a busy time for broad-casters in Romania

Football: Dutch commercial broadcaster Talpa acquired the rights to domestic knockout competition the KNVB Cup in a four-year deal with the Dutch football Association, KNVB.

The Turin Winter Olympics attracted impressive audiences to European public-service broadcasters.

Football: French mobile operator Orange acquired the mobile phone rights to France’s Ligue 1 in a two-year deal, covering the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.

Football: Italian broadcaster Mediaset acquired the broadcast rights across any medium to top Serie A club Inter Milan in a two-year deal worth €200m (£137m), covering the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

The Czech Republic’s victory in the final of last year’s ice hockey World Championship attracted the country’s top sports television audience in 2005.