TrueVisions seals World Cup deal in Thailand

TrueVisions has acquired rights in Thailand for football’s 2014 Fifa World Cup in a sublicensing deal with rival pay-television operator RS International.

The deal includes live coverage of all 64 matches at this year’s tournament.

TrueVisions will also show highlights, match re-runs and World Cup magazine programming.

Earlier this year, RS International went to Thailand’s Central Administrative Court to block an attempt by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to include the 2014 World Cup rights in its new ‘must carry’ rule. The rule forces pay-television broadcasters to share coverage of certain major sporting events with free-to-air broadcasters in Thailand. However, the court decided that RS International’s coverage of the 2014 World Cup was exempt from the rule as the broadcaster had acquired the rights before the legislation was introduced in 2013.