Oceania

Australian public-service broadcaster the ABC has said it will end its state-based and women’s sports coverage as part of budget cuts.

Australian commercial broadcaster Seven has struck a free-to-air rights deal for the Victorian Football League (VFL) Aussie rules competition.

Football Federation Australia (FFA), the sport’s national governing body, has defended its stance on continuing to play A-League top-tier fixtures during breaks for international matches by saying that it wants to protect its broadcast rights income.

Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein has denied that Australia’s anti-siphoning regulations would become redundant if the pay-television operator acquires commercial broadcaster Ten in a joint deal with pay-television broadcaster Discovery Communications.

US media company Time Warner has approached Australian commercial broadcaster Ten about a A$680m (€474.1m/$591.8m) takeover, according to the Australian Financial Review newspaper.

Australian pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports is set to conclude an extension to its rights deal with the Australian Rugby Union in the next fortnight, according to the Australian Financial Review newspaper.

Australian commercial broadcaster Seven has acquired the rights to the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the last professional event the Australian cycling great will contest.

Digital services company Spark New Zealand has agreed a deal to offer discounted coverage of the North American National Basketball Association (NBA).

A new television channel offering coverage of Australian sports properties, and targeted at the Asian market, will launch on November 1.

The Sky Racing channel, which is operated by Australian pay-television provider Foxtel, has acquired rights for the 2014 edition of horseracing’s Melbourne Cup Carnival.

The AFL Australian rules football league is exploring the option of retaining a package of rights from its next broadcast deal to live stream games through its in-house media unit.

Australian public-service broadcaster the ABC has acquired rights for the Asian Football Confederation's 2015 Asian Cup national team tournament in a sublicensing deal with pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports.

The AFL Australian rules football league will set an asking price of between A$1.5bn (€1bn/$1.3bn) and A$1.6bn for its next cycle of domestic rights, according to the Australian newspaper.

Pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand has struck a deal in principle to renew a media rights contract with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU), the national governing body of rugby union, and its Sanzar partners in the southern hemisphere.

Australian commercial broadcaster Seven will acquire the rights to the Victorian and West Australian Aussie rules competitions, the VFL and WAFL, after public-service broadcaster the ABC dropped its regional coverage of the sport, according to The Australian newspaper.

Online subscription service Coliseum Sports Media continued to shake up the previously moribund New Zealand market with the acquisition of the US PGA Tour this month.