Germany

German public-service broadcaster ARD is in talks over assuming free-to-air rights to the Formula One motor-racing championship from the 2018 season, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

German production company Wige Media is to rebrand as Sporttotal.

ARD and ZDF are close to a sublicensing deal with Discovery Communications for Olympic Games rights in Germany about nine months after negotiations between the parties broke down.    

Talks have resumed over a possible sublicensing rights deal for the Olympic Games between media company Discovery Communications and German state broadcasters ARD and ZDF, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

International sports broadcaster Eurosport has acquired rights in Poland for the DFB-Pokal, the top domestic football knockout competition in Germany.

German sports broadcaster Sport1 has acquired rights to the national basketball team’s games in the Supercup tournament, along with a friendly against France, as it prepares for the 2017 EuroBasket competition.

German sports broadcaster Sport1 has agreed a long-term extension to its rights deal for the European Volleyball Confederation’s (CEV) showpiece national team events.

German media companies Axel Springer and Constantin Medien have entered into exclusive talks over the former’s acquisition of sports broadcaster Sport1, according to multiple reports.

German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has launched a new digital platform that will have an emphasis on “high-quality” video content.

German sports broadcaster Sport1 has acquired rights for the Star Sixes football legends tournament.

The Regional Court of Cologne has ruled in favour of international media and entertainment company Discovery Communications in a dispute over pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland’s recent marketing campaign surrounding Bundesliga football coverage in the country.

German public-service broadcaster ZDF has said it is open to partnerships with rival operators in a bid to enhance its position in the sports-rights market.

German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF are set to conclude a deal for rights to the Uefa Nations League, the national team competition launched by football’s European governing body.

Uefa turned down a strong bid from incumbent free-to-air Champions League rights-holder ZDF for its next cycle in Germany, instead accepting an offer from pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland for exclusive rights.

Germany’s Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) has opted to take the marketing of its international broadcast rights in-house, with Scandinavia outlined as a key target market under the new approach.

German media company Constantin Medien has launched a bidding process with the aim of selling all its shares in German sports broadcaster Sport1 and the Sport1 Media advertising sales agency.