Italy

Italian media company Mediaset has said it and its management "have always acted in full compliance with the regulations" after further details emerged this week about an investigation into the allocation of rights for Serie A, football's top division in Italy.

Infront Sports & Media has confirmed that the prosecutor of Milan opened an investigation on Friday against Marco Bogarelli, the president of the agency’s Italy division, and associates Andrea Locatelli and Giuseppe Ciocchetti.

Documents have been confiscated from Lega Serie A offices and several clubs in the top division of Italian football as part of an ongoing investigation by the country's financial police, the Guardia di Finanza, into the sale of domestic media rights, according to the Ansa news agency and the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.

John Manning, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines live television audiences in key European markets for the evening session of this year’s IAAF World Athletics Championships.

Italian state broadcaster Rai has acquired rights for the Formula E electric car-racing world championship.

Lega Serie A has launched a new online streaming service to show coverage of the top division of Italian football.

Italian DTT sports broadcaster Sportitalia has acquired exclusive rights for the European Handball Federation (EHF) Champions League club competition.

The Mediaset Premium pay-television service of Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset has acquired rights for the Uefa Youth League European club football tournament.

Mediaset has complained to football’s European governing body Uefa after coverage of a Champions League match was made available in Italy, apparently diluting the Italian media group’s exclusive coverage of the tournament.

Italy’s top basketball league, Lega Basket Serie A, is satisfied with the outcome of its recent domes-tic rights negotiations, even though total fees remain well below the level of five years ago.

Mike Kiernan, analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines television audiences for the 2015 Tour de France

The B4 Capital agency has retained international rights to Serie B, the second tier of Italian club football, after agreeing a new three-year deal.

Italian commercial broadcaster La7 has acquired rights for the 2015 Spanish Supercopa season-opening football contest.

Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset has signed a strategic partnership with Telecom Italia (TIM) under which content offered through its pay-television service Mediaset Premium, including Serie A and Uefa Champions League football, will be distributed by the telco.

Italian Serie A football club AS Roma has launched its own television channel through a multi-year partnership with pay-television broadcaster Sky Italia.

Lega Basket, which operates the top division of basketball in Italy, has agreed two-year rights deals with state broadcaster Rai and pay-television broadcaster Sky Italia.