United Kingdom
BT faces up to ‘challenging’ year as profits fall
UK telecommunications company BT, parent firm of pay-television broadcaster BT Sport, has reported a fall in its annual pre-tax profits of 19 per cent admitting it has faced a “challenging” year in the wake of an accounting scandal involving its Italian division.
BBC picks up rights to England’s tour of Argentina
UK public-service broadcaster the BBC has acquired rights to the England rugby union team’s upcoming tour of Argentina.
Racing UK broadens reach with YouView deal
UK horse racing pay-television broadcaster Racing UK has agreed a carriage deal with the YouView platform, which is available through BT TV, TalkTalk TV and Plusnet TV.
RMG increases media-rights payments to British racecourses
Racecourse Media Group has distributed £85.5m (€101m/$111m) in media-rights payments to the 34 racecourses with which it is affiliated in the UK.
BT’s TV chief to depart
Delia Bushell, managing director of television and sport for UK telecommunications company BT, has opted to resign, according to multiple reports.
S4C to cover Lions tour
Welsh public-service channel S4C has acquired highlights rights to the British and Irish Lions rugby union team’s upcoming tour of New Zealand through a sublicensing agreement with pay-television broadcaster Sky.
Watching Brief (Vol.154) UK Television Audiences Monday 17th April to Sunday 23rd April
UK viewing audiences for the week between Monday 17th April and Sunday 23rd April, plus leading rugby league audiences on pay-television for the season to date.
Watching Brief Vol. 154
EFL opens new revenue stream with live-streaming service
The English Football League, which operates the three club divisions below the top-tier Premier League, is to launch a new live-streaming and content platform for overseas fans.
Premiership Rugby makes free-to-air breakthrough with Channel 5 deal
Premiership Rugby, the governing body of the top division of English rugby union, has struck a four-season rights deal with UK commercial broadcaster Channel 5 which will grant it live exposure on terrestrial television for the first time.
Premier Sports to showcase Polish, Swedish speedway
UK pay-television broadcaster Premier Sports has acquired rights to the Ekstraliga and Elitserien, the top-tier speedway leagues in Poland and Sweden, respectively.
Bike Channel picks up Mountain Bike World Cup rights
UK pay-television broadcaster Bike Channel has acquired rights to this year’s Mountain Bike World Cup.
Watching Brief (Vol.153) UK Television Audiences Monday 10th April to Sunday 16th April
UK viewing audiences for the week between Monday 10th April and Sunday 16th April, plus March's leading free-to-air audiences. Please note that viewing data for Sky Sports F1 is currently unavailable.
Watching Brief (Vol.152) UK Television Audiences Monday 3rd April to Sunday 9th April
UK viewing audiences for the week between Monday 3rd April and Sunday 9th April, plus March's leading pay-television audiences.
BT Sport targets Scottish rugby rights
UK pay-television broadcaster BT Sport has submitted a multi-million-pound bid to acquire rights for the Scottish national rugby union team’s Autumn Test series, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.
Sunset+Vine signs Tie Break Tens contract, brokers UK & Ireland rights deal
UK production company Sunset+Vine has signed a three-year host broadcast partnership with Tie Break Tens, and has brokered an exclusive rights deal for the tennis series with media company UKTV.
Ofcom’s probe into Fox-Sky deal delayed
An investigation by UK media regulator Ofcom into the proposed takeover of Sky by 21st Century Fox has been delayed until after the country’s general election on June 8.
TGT picks up greyhound-racing rights
The Global Tote, a subsidiary of sports-betting provider TopBetta, has acquired rights for UK and Irish greyhound-racing coverage.
Watching Brief (Vol.151) UK Television Audiences Monday 27th March to Sunday 2nd April
UK viewing audiences for the week between Monday 27th March and Sunday 2nd April, plus a round-up of the year's most-watched live snooker programmes so far.