Nordics

Football/Basketball: JCS Sports, owner of Israel’s two Sport 5 cable and satellite channels, acquired the rights for top Israeli football and basketball matches in a three-year sublicensing deal with pay-per-view company Charlton

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.

Norges Fotballforbund, the national football association, agreed a four-year deal for the live and highlights rights for all major football competitions in Norwegian football

Ownership row continues after the publication of an independent report by the country’s national competition authority.

Football dominates European sports viewing in the TV Sports Markets survey for March.

Viewing rises in four out of the top five European television markets

Swedish TV4 gets best-ever viewing figure for Women's football World Cup final

Norwegian football’s new commercial rights tender goes a step further than most in splitting up its rights for the market

Infront, and other suitors, did not like the rights guarantees ISPR had committed to

The TV Sports Markets monthly survey of European sports viewing in December shows Champions League second-phase matches topping the tables in six of 19 countries surveyed.

Danish broadcaster TV Danmark fought a bitter, year-long court battle with the UK’s television regulator over listed events.

Women's World Championships draw good audiences in Norway, Germany, Romania

Football: Greek public-service broadcaster ERT acquired the free-to-air rights for all 31 matches of Euro 2008 in a €9.5m (£6.5m) deal with the Sportfive agency.  It is the first deal done for the championship.  Italian public-service broadcaster Rai is also set to sign a deal for Euro 2008, paying €120m.

Cricket: The Nimbus Sport agency acquired the worldwide television rights to cricket in India in a four-year deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Football: Polish public-service broadcaster TVP and commercial broadcaster Polsat agreed a joint-deal for the 2006 World Cup with the Infront agency worth €15m (£10.3m).

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

Football: Pay-operator Setanta Sports agreed a four-year extension deal with the Scottish Premier League.

The climax of the football season in Europe attracted big audiences for free-to-air broadcasters across the continent.