Canal Plus has acquired rights for the remaining eight meetings on the 2012 International Association of Athletics Federations Diamond League calendar from fellow French pay-television broadcaster Orange Sport.
The loss-making Orange Sport channel is being closed by its parent, telecommunications company Orange, on June 30.
French newspaper l’Equipe said that Canal Plus’s main basic-tier channel would show the meetings on July 6 in Paris, France, on July 13-14 in London, UK, on July 20 in Monaco and on August 23 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Canal Plus Sport pay-television channel will show the other four remaining meetings this year, on August 17 in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 26 in Birmingham, UK, on August 30 in Zurich, Switzerland, and on September 7 in Brussels, Belgium.
The newspaper said that Orange Sport would not be able to sublicense its rights for the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and ATP World Tour Masters 500 Series men’s tennis tournaments. The ATP World Tour, which operates the men’s professional tennis circuit, wants to reclaim the rights and redistribute them to the French market, taking advantage of the competition between Canal Plus and pay-television rival Al Jazeera.