Thai media conglomerate GMM Grammy has secured domestic broadcast rights to programming from the official television channels of eight major European football clubs.
Three-year deals, from 2012-13 to 2014-15, have been agreed for the official channels of English Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, Spanish Liga clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona, Italian Serie A club AC Milan and German Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund.
GMM Z, GMM Grammy’s satellite broadcaster, will show some live matches and other programmes from the channels through its GMM Z Sport One, Football Plus and Club Channel pay-television platforms.
GMM Grammy chairman Paiboon Damrongchaitham said the acquisition of rights to club channel programming was part of the organisation’s drive to sell two million satellite set-top boxes this year. “This sales target is realistic as the company has already passed the halfway mark with over one million boxes sold,” he said.
Thai newspaper the Nation said that the deal had been struck as a back-up measure in case GMM Grammy failed to acquire rights for the English Premier League in the next cycle. The bidding process for the rights covering three seasons, from 2013-14 to 2015-16, is expected to commence next month.
GMM Z has also secured exclusive domestic rights to show 120 matches from the Thailand Futsal Premier League five-a-side football competition in a one-year deal. The 2012-13 season will start on October 9.