MDR, the public-service broadcaster for the German states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, has criticised national public-service broadcaster ARD’s level of spending on football rights, according to the Digital Fernsehen website.
MDR said in a broadcasting board report that ARD’s spending on football rights was “unbalanced” in the context of its total sports budget. The report said that while football makes up only 29 per cent of ARD’s sports coverage, it accounts for 70 per cent of its spending on sports rights.
“The overall situation in the acquisition of sports rights is unbalanced,” the report said. “The breadth and diversity of coverage should not be limited because of the importance of one programme and the financial domination of a single sport.”
MDR has proposed that the issue of sports rights should be debated every three years at a joint meeting of broadcasters and sports bodies.