Europe

Mediaset is set to make its Premium pay-television service and content available to other operators and could scale back its coverage of football if the rights become too costly, the Italian media group told investors yesterday (Wednesday).

UK commercial broadcaster ITV and pay-television broadcaster Sky are set to acquire rights to the latest package of football rights for the England national team offered by European governing body Uefa, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.

UK pay-television broadcaster Sky has acquired rights for the 2017 Women’s Six Nations rugby union tournament.

Finnish commercial and pay-television broadcaster MTV3 has extended rights deals with the Infront Sports & Media agency covering a range of top ice hockey events.

Lithuanian free-to-air broadcaster TV3 has acquired rights for the 2018 and 2020 editions of the Olympic Games.

David Clementi, the new chair of UK public-service broadcaster the BBC, has called for a review of the ‘crown jewels’ list of sporting events reserved for free-to-air television in the country.

The French Football Federation has opened a tender process for domestic rights to the Coupe de France club knockout tournament.

Spanish commercial broadcaster Atresmedia has signed a multi-year extension to its rights deal with the WWE, while the US wrestling organisation has agreed to add content from independent promoters to its WWE Network pay-television channel, according to multiple reports.

The International Handball Federation has moved to defend its partnership with beIN Media Group, the global rights distribution partner for showpiece national team tournament the World Championship, amid criticism of the deal in German media outlets.

German media company Constantin Medien has formed a new consulting unit.

Italian state broadcaster Rai is set to sign a two-year extension to its rights deal for ‘Grand Tour’ cycling event the Giro d’Italia, according to multiple reports.

Bulgarian telecommunications company MTel has confirmed the launch of three new sports channels.

Watching Brief is kicking off 2017 with a special edition ranking the UK's most-watched sports broadcasts across both pay and free-to-air television in 2016.

German media group ProSiebenSat.1 has joined forces with French and Italian counterparts TF1 and Mediaset to forge a partnership in the online video sector.

Yunfeng Capital, an investment fund backed by Jack Ma, the executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, and Chinese conglomerate HNA Group are among the four remaining contenders to acquire a stake in Imagina, the operator of Spanish agency Mediapro.

Spanish public-service broadcaster TVE has agreed a one-season deal with the Women’s Tennis Association for rights to its Premier-level tournaments.