Australian public-service broadcaster SBS has acquired rights for the 2012 edition of cycling’s Giro d’Italia in a deal with Rai, the Italian host broadcaster and distributor of the worldwide media rights to the race.
SBS has increased its broadcasting commitments to the race, doubling the amount of live coverage it gave to the Giro last year. SBS will show live coverage of eight key stages from the 21-stage race, plus an evening highlights programme every day.
Giacomo Catano, chief executive officer of RCS Sport, organisers of the Giro, said: “We are pleased that a key broadcast partner like SBS has decided to double its live coverage of the Giro d’Italia. It confirms the success of the work we have done to raise the international profile of the race. Now we are working hard to make the racing and the television coverage as spectacular as we can for a global audience.”
The 2012 Giro begins in Herning, Denmark, on May 5, and finishes in Milan on May 27.