Spain

Barcelona will hold a board meeting on January 26 at which talks will be held over telecommunications company Telefónica’s bid to acquire the Spanish Liga football club’s broadcast rights.

Telefónica’s acquisition of all rights to two Primera Liga clubs, and its bid to acquire the rights to Spanish giant Barcelona, are aimed at strengthening the telco’s position ahead of changes in the domestic broadcast market.

Mike Kiernan, analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, reviews television audiences across the big five markets for the recently concluded Formula One World Championship

Spanish public-service broadcaster TVE and UK pay-television broadcaster Sky have acquired rights for the 2015 men’s World Handball Championships in Qatar.

Pay-television broadcaster Al Jazeera, which operates the beIN Media Group, is considering bidding for a free-to-air DTT licence in Spain and attempting to acquire rights for the Liga, the top division of football in the country, according to the Vozpopuli news website.

Telecommunications company Telefónica has agreed broadcast rights deals with Spanish Liga football clubs Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad for the 2015-16 season.

FASFE, a network of football supporters’ clubs, has submitted a complaint to the European Union over the distribution of rights income in Spanish football.

José Antonio Sánchez, president of Spanish public-service broadcaster TVE, has outlined plans to strengthen sports channel Teledeporte after admitting the company was taken aback by public reaction to initial proposals to close the service.

Mike Kiernan, analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines live television audiences in Europe’s five largest markets for motorcycling’s MotoGP world championship

Javier Tebas, president of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, the Spanish football league, has outlined how media rights income will be split between clubs when a new collective model is introduced.

Spanish commercial broadcaster Atresmedia has agreed a two-year extension to its rights deal with US wrestling organisation the WWE.

Spanish commercial broadcaster Mediaset will switch live coverage of the country’s top-tier football Liga from its Cuatro channel to digital-terrestrial channel Energy.

Spanish broadcaster Mediaset, which owns the Telecinco and Cuatro commercial channels, has acquired rights for next month’s Fifa Club World Cup football tournament in Morocco.

The Spanish Football League (LFP) has joined forces with the country’s Association of Media Agencies, the Mediapro agency and Prisa media company to sign an agreement intended to combat the piracy of Spanish football rights.

José Antonio Sánchez, the new president of Spanish public-service broadcaster TVE, has halted a plan to close sports channel Teledeporte at the end of this year.

Betradar, a division of sports and betting-related services company Sportradar, has struck a carriage deal with Spanish gaming operator Codere for its Live Channel service.