Russia

Russian state-controlled broadcasters Channel One and VGTRK, as well as sports broadcaster Match TV, will show coverage of the 2018 winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, according to Pyotr Makarenko, president of the Telesport agency.

Russian state-controlled commercial broadcaster Channel One will show parts of the 2018 winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, according to the Tass news agency.

The Telesport agency is in talks with a host of Russian broadcasters, including state broadcaster VGTRK, for rights to the 2018 winter Olympic Games.

Russian state broadcaster VGTRK has said it will not televise the 2018 winter Olympic Games after the International Olympic Committee’s decision to ban Team Russia from next year’s event in Pyeongchang.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Vitaly Mutko, has said he is confident that a rights deal will be struck for the 2018 Fifa World Cup in its host nation before the end of the year.

Uefa has earned a significant increase in the value of its national team rights across Eastern Europe, justifying its decision to sell market-by-market in the region.

Russian state-controlled commercial broadcaster Channel One has acquired rights to the national football team’s forthcoming friendly games, which will also be live streamed by social media platforms VKontakte and Odnoklassnik.

The Russian Olympic Committee has said it will launch an online streaming channel in December.

Alexander Fayfman, general producer of state-controlled commercial broadcaster Channel One, has said no progress has been made on securing a rights deal for the 2018 Fifa World Cup in host nation Russia, adding that the negotiating parties are still seeking a compromise.

Any new deal for domestic Russian Football Premier League rights will likely be completed next March at the earliest, far later than the November estimate of league president Sergey Pryadkin, TV Sports Markets understands.

Eurosport Gold, a new channel containing programming from the international sports broadcaster’s Eurosport 2 channel, has launched on telecommunications platform Rostelecom in Russia.

Russian Premier League president Sergey Pryadkin has said talks are being held with privately-held broadcaster Match TV over a three-season extension to its rights deal for the top division of domestic football.

Russian social media and video-hosting platform VKontakte has acquired rights to the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch club football, and the Championship, the second tier of the English game.

The MP & Silva agency has agreed rights deals in a host of territories for the inaugural season of the World Boxing Super Series.

The Telesport agency is aiming to take advantage of Match TV’s weakened financial position and become the main buyer of sports rights in Russia, wresting control of the market from the Gazprom Media-owned broadcaster.

The Telesport agency has acquired exclusive rights in Russia to LaLiga, the top football division in Spain, according to Kommersant.