Europe

Belgian pay-television broadcaster Telenet has extended a rights deal for the Formula One motor-racing world championship.

Vodafone has called on the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y La Competencia (CNMC), Spain’s competition regulator, to intervene in its battle with rival telco Telefónica to screen the Formula One motor racing championship and MotoGP motorcycling series, adding it is considering legal action should the dispute not be resolved.

Dutch public-service broadcaster NOS has agreed a deal with US media and entertainment company Discovery Communications for rights to the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games.

French public-service broadcaster France Télévisions has extended a rights deal for coverage of the Six Nations rugby union tournament and France national team autumn internationals.

Spanish agency Mediapro will launch a new free-to-air sports channel on digital-terrestrial television in the country.

Sportdeutschland.tv, the online sports channel of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), has acquired rights to the International Handball Federation’s qualifying tournaments for the 2016 Olympic Games.

UK pay-television broadcaster Sky will this summer launch a new sports channel, which will be made available to its non-sports subscribers at no extra cost.

Canadian pay-television sports broadcaster TSN has agreed a partnership with UK pay-television broadcaster Sky to enhance its coverage of the Formula One motor racing championship.

Indian pay-television broadcaster Neo Sports has acquired rights for the Coppa Italia and Coupe de France football club knockout competitions.

Sports technology company Stats has become the latest leading player from the industry to invest in virtual reality by agreeing a partnership with Virtually Live.

Media company Constantin Medien, which operates German sports broadcaster Sport1, the Sport1 Media sports marketing company and the Team Marketing agency, has hailed figures for its 2015 financial year that significantly exceeded the original targets.

European broadcast group Sky has formed a new virtual reality division as part of its ongoing commitment to integrate the technology into its sports coverage.

Greek public-service broadcaster ERT has agreed a three-season deal for free-to-air rights to the Formula One motor racing championship.

The QYOU, a curator of internet video content for subscription-television services, has entered into a partnership with the Broadreach Media agency.

Romanian pay-television platforms Digi Sport and Dolce Sport have claimed two-season deals for rights to the Formula One motor racing championship.

UK commercial broadcaster ITV is close to extending a rights deal with World Rugby, the global governing body of rugby union, for its Rugby World Cup showpiece national team tournament, according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.