Italy

Despite the most exciting Formula One season in recent memory, with the driver’s and constructor’s championships going down to the wire, television audiences fell in a number of major European markets.

Football

Football: The African Union of Broadcasters signed a deal with Fifa for the English, French and Portuguese-language television and radio rights to the 2010 World Cup.

Cricket

The Premier League may offer overseas broadcasters a ready-made Premier League channel in the next three-year rights cycle, as it looks to maintain the steep increase in its international rights revenue in a softening market.

The IOC’s preference for direct relationships in key markets looks set to further loosen the grip of the pan-regional broadcast unions that have traditionally acquired Olympic television rights.

Baseball

Baseball: US sports network ESPN extended a deal with Major League Baseball’s Advanced Media arm for inter-active television and other digital media rights through to 2013.

The IOC took the first step in its new European broadcast rights sales strategy this week with a deal with Sky Italia for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games.
Football

Sky set to become Italy’s biggest broadcaster.
Basketball

Cricket: Pan-Asian broadcaster ESPN Star Sports acquired the rights for Twenty20’s cricket’s Champions League.

Rugby Union

Italian state broadcaster Rai acquired the rights for Italy’s domestic rugby union league, the Super 10 after Sky Italia chose not to renew its three-year deal.

Football

The rights-exchange deal between Italian state broadcaster Rai and satellite operator Sky Italia covering the football World Cups of 2010 and 2014 and the Olympic Games of 2010 and 2012 is under threat.

Football

The Italian football league suffered a drop of more than 50 per cent in the value of its free-to-air highlights rights after failing to generate competition between broadcasters.

Boxing

UK pay-operator Setanta looks to hit ambitious subscriber targets.

Basketball

Basketball: Greek pay-operator NetMed acquired the rights for A1 league club PAOK in a three-year deal from 2008-09 to 2010-11
Football

Football: Greek commercial broadcaster Antenna acquired the rights for top Greek club Olympiacos’ home first round match in the Uefa Cup and its two home group stage matches, paying €1.605m (£1.25m)
Football

Sky Italia, agreed a deal under which Rai will sub-license to Sky rights to football’s World Cup finals of 2010 and 2014 and Sky will sublicense to Rai rights for the Olympic Games of 2010 and 2012.
Cycling

The attempt by RCS Sport to boost the value of the event’s international rights failed because of the lack of competition in the domestic market.

Football

Attack by Italy’s antitrust authority could lead to a reform of the recent collective-selling law and potentially allow a return to individual selling by the back door.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games attracted the country’s largest-ever television audience.