Oceania

Australian pay-television operator Foxtel has struck agreements with six English Premier League football clubs and will add three new channels to its Sports Pack offering at no extra charge.

Pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand has agreed a five-season extension to its rights deal with Australian rugby league competition the NRL, with the contract also including national team Test matches.

Cricket Australia has opened a tender process for rights to a number of the country’s national team and domestic league properties in the US, Canada and the Caribbean for the five-year period covering the 2016-17 to 2020-21 seasons.

Australian telecommunications company Optus has been hit with criticism from consumers after unveiling the pricing strategy for its exclusive coverage of football’s English Premier League.

Australian commercial broadcaster Seven earlier this month maintained its hold on Rugby League World Cup rights at a significantly increased fee.

Sky New Zealand’s renewal of Olympic Games rights last month is the latest in a string of long-term deals agreed by the International Olympic Committee.

John Manning, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, reviews television audiences in selected key cricket markets for the recent ICC World Twenty20 tournament

Australian pay-television broadcaster Sky Racing has agreed a rights deal with Tasracing, the governing body of horseracing in the state of Tasmania.

Australian public-service broadcaster SBS has acquired free-to-air rights in the country to this summer’s Copa América Centenario national team football tournament, which will be staged in the United States.

Australian commercial broadcaster Seven has secured rights to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Telco Optus’s surprise deal for English Premier League rights in Australia last November created the opportunity for its partnering with public-service broadcaster SBS last month.

James Warburton, chief executive of Australian motor racing series V8 Supercars, has added to the calls for the country’s government to reform anti-siphoning regulations, warning that retaining the current system is likely to restrict the development of the sports broadcasting market.

Australian Football League club Port Adelaide has struck a rights deal with Chinese state-owned broadcaster CCTV.

Australian pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports has committed to televising three women’s Aussie rules football exhibition games this season ahead of the launch of a league next year.

Australian pay-television operator Foxtel has struck a carriage deal with beIN Media Group to add three beIN Sports channels to its sports package.

New media player Coliseum has developed into a pan-Asian service and will wind down operations in its home market of New Zealand.