France
TF1 lands rights package for France’s World Handball Championship
BeIN Sports puts handball world championship rights on market
BeIN renews NBA rights in France to add to earlier Mena deal
Watching Brief (Vol.136) Special Focus: MotoGP World Championships
SFR Sport nets Portuguese hat-trick with cup competition rights
SFR Sport launches OTT service
The SFR Sport division of French telecommunications company SFR has launched an OTT service.
LFP awards e-Ligue 1 rights to beIN Sports, Webedia
The Ligue de Football Professionnel, which operates the French football league, has awarded rights for e-Ligue 1, a new nationwide esports competition, to pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports and online media company Webedia.
Ligue 1 clubs strike new TV revenue pact
The 20 member clubs of Ligue 1, the top division of French football, have agreed a new deal for the division of broadcast revenues over the coming seasons.
Canal Plus hit by substantial fall in subscriber base
French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus has lost over half a million subscribers in the past year, according to new figures released by its parent company, media group Vivendi.
SFR to make sports channels available on digital platforms
French telecommunications company SFR will make its SFR Sport pay-television channels available to those who do not have a full subscription to the service.
ASO gets domestic Tour increase despite little competition
Amaury Sport Organisation secured a small increase in the value of its domestic rights, including the Tour de France, in last month’s five-year renewal with France Télévisions.
IMG pens extension with Flanders Classics
The IMG agency has extended a worldwide rights agreement with Flanders Classics, the umbrella organisation for the leading Flemish cycling road races and the Paris-Brussels event.
Thiriez accuses Hollande of breaching competition law over LFP auction intervention
Frédéric Thiriez, the former president of the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the French football league, has claimed that French President François Hollande’s intervention in the tender for the current cycle of domestic media rights represented a “serious breach of competition law.”
SFR Sport to show Bourges Euroleague Women’s games
French telecommunications company SFR has acquired rights in France for Bourges’ home games in the Euroleague Women European club tournament.
L’Équipe to cover Barbarians fixtures
French digital-terrestrial television channel L’Équipe has bolstered its rugby union portfolio by acquiring rights to three international games.
BeIN Sports renews NBA deal as Dish launches team-specific NBA Team Pass
French pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has extended a rights deal for the NBA North American basketball league, while Dish Network has become the first pay-television operator to unbundle the NBA Team Pass service, allowing subscribers to follow a single team.
SFR Sport adds England’s autumn internationals to rugby line-up
French telecommunications company SFR has bolstered the rugby union portfolio of its SFR Sport television platform by acquiring rights to England’s autumn internationals.
SFR on the track with French athletics deal
Fédération Française d’Athlétisme, the governing body of athletics in France, has awarded exclusive rights to Altice and the telecommunications company’s subsidiary, SFR.