Europe
Swisscom files complaint over UPC’s MySports channel
Swiss telecommunications group Swisscom has filed a complaint against rival telco UPC to the country’s Competition Commission (Weko) over the latter’s failure to grant access to its exclusive ice hockey rights to all operators.
Swedish league gets 120% fee jump as Discovery ousts Bonnier
The Swedish football league earned an increase of about 120 per cent in the value of its media rights last month as Discovery continued its strategy of buying domestic football league rights in Scandinavia.
GAA enjoys uplift as it takes greater control of its content
Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association has enjoyed steady growth in commercial revenues over the last five years and is set to do so until mid-2022.
TGT picks up greyhound-racing rights
The Global Tote, a subsidiary of sports-betting provider TopBetta, has acquired rights for UK and Irish greyhound-racing coverage.
Watching Brief (Vol.151) UK Television Audiences Monday 27th March to Sunday 2nd April
UK viewing audiences for the week between Monday 27th March and Sunday 2nd April, plus a round-up of the year's most-watched live snooker programmes so far.
Euroleague registers audience increase
Euroleague Basketball registered significant year-on-year increases in its television and online audiences in the 2016-17 season following a restructuring of the body’s top league and the EuroCup competition.
Eleven to launch new OTT channel in Belgium
International sports broadcaster Eleven Sports will launch a third channel in Belgium tomorrow (Thursday).
BT Sport lands World Endurance Championship rights
UK pay-television broadcaster BT Sport has acquired rights to the World Endurance Championship motor-racing series.
Premier League makes latest anti-piracy move
Football’s English Premier League has stepped up its efforts to prevent piracy of its content by partnering with digital platform security specialist Irdeto.
Talpa takes control of SBS
Talpa Holding has acquired a 67-per-cent stake in Dutch commercial broadcaster SBS from majority shareholder Sanoma Media.
Bundesliga International names Klein as CCO
Bundesliga International, the new sales and marketing unit of the German Football League (DFL), has appointed Robert Klein as its chief commercial officer.
RFL to live-stream World Cup warm-up match, will charge fans
The Rugby Football League, the governing body for rugby league in England, has announced that the national team’s upcoming Test match against Samoa will be streamed live online, with fans required to pay £3.49 (€4.08/$4.34) to watch the match.
BBC to broadcast WSL Spring Series
UK public-service broadcaster the BBC has agreed a deal to show coverage of the English Women’s Super League One Spring Series club football competition on its television and online platforms.
Mediapro to invest in esports after ‘best ever year’
Spanish agency Mediapro will invest more in esports after hailing 2016 as its “best ever year.”
Mutko hits out at Fifa’s stance on Russian World Cup rights
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko has added to the criticism of Fifa regarding the sale of domestic broadcast rights to the 2018 World Cup and 2017 Confederations Cup, stating world football’s governing body is imposing “special conditions” on the host nation for the events.
European Commission approves Fox-Sky deal
The European Commission has given unconditional approval to US media company 21st Century Fox’s proposed £11.7bn (€13.7bn/$14.5bn) takeover of pan-European pay-television broadcaster Sky.
Austrian Bundesliga settles on revenue distribution ahead of rights tender
The Austrian Bundesliga has moved to revamp its distribution system for broadcast revenues as the top division of domestic football prepares to launch a tender for its next domestic rights deal.
Norwegian football stakeholders take action against TV2
The Norwegian Football Federation, Norsk Toppfotball and Fotball Media have taken legal action against commercial and pay-television broadcaster TV2 in the belief it has infringed rights regulations for coverage of the Eliteserien, the top division of domestic football.