Europe

Spanish public-service broadcaster TVE has acquired rights for the upcoming final of the Copa del Rey domestic football tournament.

Stockholm-based agency Spring Media has launched a new OTT channel to provide coverage of Swedish speedway events on a global basis.

Swedish media company Modern Times Group has acquired rights in Norway to the 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship.

European Commission officials carried out unannounced inspections at the offices of several companies linked to the sports-media market yesterday (Tuesday).

The Formula One motor-racing championship has struck new rights deals with the Advisers Media International and Saran Media agencies covering multiple markets in Europe and Asia.

French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus has agreed a content partnership with US satellite-television provider DirecTV that will grant the Top 14 domestic rugby union league exposure in the US.

A consortium led by French billionaire Xavier Niel has completed a deal to acquire a majority stake in telecommunications company Eir, whose pay-television broadcaster Eir Sport is a key player in the Irish sports rights market.

Pay-television broadcaster O2 TV has acquired rights in the Czech Republic to the country’s top-tier ice hockey league, the Extraliga.

British No.1 Kyle Edmund has become the latest tennis player to stream his matches via social media channels through an agreement with endorsement partner British Airways.

The Mediapro agency has put on the market seven packages of rights to Serie A, the top division of football in Italy.

DAZN, the OTT service operated by digital sports-media company Perform, has extended a rights deal for LaLiga Spanish football coverage in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Italian state broadcaster Rai has extended an agreement for rights to the International Motorcycling Federation’s (FIM) Motocross World Championship (MXGP).

Spanish LaLiga football club Real Madrid has agreed a deal with Korean consumer electronics company Samsung to offer exclusive video content through social media platform Twitter.

Football’s English Premier League and pay-television operator Fox Networks Group Latin America have claimed two significant wins in their ongoing efforts to fight piracy of their content.

UK viewing data for the week between Monday 19th and Sunday 25th March. Please note that the week's data for the BT Sport channels is currently not available. Watching Brief Vol. 203

German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has secured exclusive Ultra HD rights to national team football tournament the 2018 Fifa World Cup.

French commercial broadcaster TF1 has renewed an agreement for Rugby World Cup rights ahead of next year’s edition of the national team tournament in Japan.

UK viewing data for the week between Monday 12th and Sunday 18th March. Please note that the week's data for the Sky Sports Action and the BT Sport channels is currently not available. T