News

South African-based Supersport, which holds the rights in South Africa and Nigeria, showed coverage in sub-Sahara of the FA Cup semi-finals in an interim arrangement.

With Supersport the only realistic bidder for the rights, the FA looks certain to take a hit.

Japan is Uefa’s most lucrative market in Asia, with SkyPerfecTV paying some $17 million a year in its existing Champions League deal.

The new deal includes the Uefa Super Cups in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and the rights for the second-tier Europa League.

Eclat is asking for Won1.4 bn (€790,000/$1m), but the broadcasters, including SBS Sports, KBSN, MBC ESPN and Xports, are only willing to pay Won1bn. They also want a discount if the KBO goes ahead with plans to also sell rights to IPTV operators.

Some advertisers are said to be trying to renegotiate with Indian broadcaster Sony for reduced rates, after top six metro ratings for the first six matches (the seventh was washed out) averaged 3.75, down from an average rating of 4.0 for the same six matches last year. Sony’s advertising and sponsorship rates are up about a third on last year.

GSP TV officials are understood to have been taken by surprise by RCS’s Spanish league deal, in which the cable operator outbid offers from a number of sports channels, including the present incumbent Boom, Telesport, SportKlub and Pro TV’s Sports.ro.

The fight will be shown live on a pay-per-view basis on the Perform Group agency’s www.omnisport.tv website. The fight will be the biggest-ever UK-focused event shown on the site, which also carries exclusive coverage of Italian Serie A football.

The new deals will cover the three-year period from 2009-10 to 2011-12.

 

Broadcasters now have until Friday lunchtime to register their interest. The Lega was obliged by the new Melandri Law to conduct an official tender process.

Its rights are presently held by pay-broadcaster Sky Italia.

TV2 Sport has agreed a new three-year, NKr20 million (€2.3 million/$3 million) deal running from 2009-10 to 2011-12.

It is paying about Nkr1 million a year in rights fees and the rest in production costs, the same as Sport N, owned by pan-regional media conglomerate Modern Times Group, are paying at present.

The growth rate will slow further to 10 per cent in the next five years and seven per cent from now until 2018. The 26.6 million new subscribers in the region is forecast to drop to below 24 million next year, with an average of 15-20 million new additions each year thereafter.