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Mediapro has traditionally sold the rights directly only in Japan, with the Sportfive agency usually distributing the rights elsewhere in Asia.

BSkyB picked up five of the six 23-match packages, one more than it has at present, paying £1.623 billion. Setanta picked up one package for £159 million but the viability of its business model is threatened by the fact that it has now lost half its Premier League offering.

The deal is the third consecutive three-year contract signed by Sportfive for these markets. The two agencies have also renewed their cooperation and alliance regarding Mediapro’s representation of Sportfive properties in Spain.

In France, live coverage was shared between premium channel Canal Plus, which drew 1.1 million viewers, and public-service broadcaster France Télévisions, which drew 4.5 million viewers and a 24.4-per-cent share, according to audience measurement agency Mediametrie.

Eurosport's television coverage of the Australian Open drew 52 million different viewers − its best-ever reach for the event. About 17.3 million different viewers followed the final, with a record average audience of 3.1 million per quarter of an hour.

Teleclub will show three matches a week. The deal was agreed after an earlier deal between MP & Silva and Swiss media agency Heikon fell through.

NBC holds three of the top-five Super Bowl audiences, with 94.1 million viewers in 1996 (3rd) and 91 million in 1993 (5th). Rival network CBS drew the 4th biggest audience in 2007, with 93.2 million viewers.

The group’s television and radio broadcasting division saw a 29-per-cent drop in profits to $655 million, with large decreases reported by the Disney cable channels and sports network ESPN, due to falling advertising revenue and the increase in rights fees paid for NFL football.

The member broadcasters are in Argentina (cable sports broadcaster TyC), Bolivia (commercial channel Red Uno), Chile (commercial channel Canal 13), Mexico (commercial broadcaster TV Azteca), Panama (commercial broadcasters TV Max and Medcom) and Peru (commercial channel ATV).

The deal has taken several months to finalise. For more details see the forthcoming issue of TV Sports Markets.