Japan

Rights sales process up and running with auctions in different territories

Football: Irish pay-per-view broad-caster Setanta signed a four-year, £35m (€52m) deal with the Scottish Premier League.  The deal will run from 2004-05 to 2007-08.  Se

Five-year deal, four different broadcasters, three times the previous rights fee

Ecclestone desire for more races in Asia will hit audiences in Europe, which is still the biggest television rights revenue generator

Room for "tremedous growth" in Olympic coverage in Asian markets

But IOC are "waiting for the Japanese economy to come out of the doldrums"

Football: German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF acquired the rights for up to 49 matches in football’s 2006 World Cup from Swiss agency Infront Sports & Media.

The revival of the India-Pakistan hockey test series after an interval of five years has attracted high television interest.

Fifa’s approach to the sale of the 2010 World Cup television rights is leading to major tensions among Asian broadcasters

Japanese broadcasters will have what look to be major advantages when they start negotiating for the television rights of the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games next summer

Cricket: Indian broadcaster Zee Telefilms made a $308m (£174m/ €257m) bid for the worldwide television rights to Indian cricket for four years, from October 2004 to September 2008.

Olympics: The Japan Consortium, consisting of public-service broadcaster NHK and commercial broadcasters Fuji TV, NTV, TV Asahi, TBS and Tokyo TV, acquired the media rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympics…

The International Olympic Committee’s deal in Japan for the rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympics brings to an end a difficult, 18-month negotiation

Olympics: CCTV.com, the new-media arm of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, acquired the new-media rights for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in a deal worth an estimated $7m (£3.5m/ €4.9m

Football: African broadcasters acquired the rights for the African Cup of Nations in a series of last-minute deals with the LC2 agency.  In Ghana, state broadcaster GTV acquired the rights for €1m (£686,000).

Motorsport: German pay-broadcaster Premiere extended its deal for live Formula One rights by one year, until the end of the 2007 season.

Cricket: Pan-Asian broadcaster ESPN Star Sports acquired the worldwide rights for International Cricket Council events from September 2007 through to 2015.

Sportfive outbid local agency Dentsu to win the Japanese rights for the English Premier League.