Norway
NRK deal with pay-TV points to dangers of sports battle
An alliance between Norwegian public-service broadcaster NRK and one of Scandinavia’s largest pay-television operators, Modern Times Group, creates a third major rights-buying superpower
MTG doubles F1 fees despite lack of competition
Pan-Scandinavian broadcaster Modern Times Group doubled Formula One’s present television fees in the region
New channel will be threat to Viasat and Canal Plus
New sports channel to be launched in Norway next year by commercial broadcaster TV2 and telecoms company Telenor
TV RIGHTS CLIPS: FOOTBALL DEALS
Football: Spanish pay-television broadcaster Sogecable acquired the pay-rights for the Champions League in a three-year deal from the 2006-07 to 2008-09 with the Team agency
Regional league is a knock-out for SBS channels
Scandinavian football’s Royal League is set to radically increase the knock-out element
TV RIGHTS CLIPS 1: Athletics, basketball, motorsport and more
Basketball: Spanish commercial broadcaster La Sexta acquired the rights to this year’s basketball World Championships in a deal with Fiba, the international basketball federation.
Women attract year’s top football TV audiences
The women’s Euro 2005 football tournament last month attracted the biggest football television audiences of the year in Sweden and Norway
TV RIGHTS CLIPS 1: Football
Football: Norwegian commercial channel TV2 an telecoms company Telenor acquired the rights to all Norwegian football in a record NKr1bn (£85m/€127m) deal (page 1)
Record deal for Nordic sport
The biggest-ever sports-rights deal in the history of Nordic television was agreed late this week
Modern Times throws down league gauntlet
Pan-Scandinavian broadcaster Modern Times Group has thrown down the gauntlet in Norway
State tries to halt commercial TV’s shift to pay-TV
Rights-holders and commercial broadcasters united in opposition
High-flying Unity attracts Liberty’s attention
German cable company consortium is takeover target for Liberty Global
TV RIGHTS CLIPS 2: Aussie Rules football, rugby league and tennis
Australian Rules: Australian pay-television operator Foxtel acquired pay-television rights for the Australian Football League in a sub-licensing deal worth A$315
Skiing audiences tune in but miss gold performances
Weekday lunchtime television slots mean Swedish television audiences miss Anja Paerson's medal winning performances
World handball is catch for viewers
Men's World Handball Championships in Germany attracts big audiences across Europe
League gives in over ownership to speed up TV sale
Norway's top leagues have been forced to compromise on taking over ownership and sale of league rights
Canal Plus and SBS will gain by bidding together
Takeover of the Nordic Canal Plus subscription channels by SBS Broadcasting
Are there enough rights for planned sports channel?
TV2 resurrects plan to launch premium pay-channel.