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The service shows live Serie A matches and from 2009-10 will also show Uefa Champions League and Europa League matches. It is understood to have launched a tender looking for a production partner to help it develop its sports channels.

Under the deal, BSkyB has five of the six live rights packages available - the maximum it can acquire under the bidding guidelines - while Setanta has the remaining package.

After the deals were announced, ESPN confirmed it had bid for live rights. It had been widely anticipated to challenge Setanta for live rights.

Each week we will bring you a round-up of the week's headlines as well as preview the forthcoming stories in the TV Sports Markets newsletter. TV Sports Markets is market-leader for information on the business of TV rights. The fortnightly newsletter reports on big deals, major developments affecting the market and the main players as well as analyses of viewing trends for the top events.

It is thought to be paying an amount similar to the £1.314 billion it pays now. The packages, of 23 matches each, include the first-choice match each week.

The network also set a record for advertising revenue for the National Football League championship from pre-game through post-game, with $261 million, said NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker.

Supersport will start showing coverage from this weekend, with its Multichoice platform offering discounted decoders in an attempt to entice GTV’s 100,000-odd subscribers.

GTV was losing $25 million a quarter and was an estimated 250,000 short of the minimum number needed to break even. For more details see the latest TV Sports Markets newsletter.

The broadcaster reported a 31-per-cent rise in second-half operating profits to £385 million, ahead of forecasts, with turnover up six per cent to £2.6 billion. For the three months to end-December, BSkyB added 171,000 net subscribers, compared with 167,000 for the same period in 2007.

The rights are for the three seasons from 2009-10 to 2011-12.

The present incumbent, terrestrial broadcaster La7, was unable to match a Sky Italia bid of over €10 million, double what La7 pays now. La7 is however favourite to pick up a secondary package, covering delayed coverage of Italy matches and highlights of all other matches. For more details see the latest TV Sports Markets newsletter.

Two packages will be put up for auction: the weekly live Monday night top-pick Premier League match, now held by commercial broadcaster Channel 10 in a deal worth $6.5 million a year; and the rights for the State Cup, the Toto Cup and National League Games, Premier League highlights and radio rights, presently held by pay-broadcaster The Sports Channel.