The Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) motorcycling series has agreed a rights deal with UK commercial broadcaster ITV.
Under the agreement signed by WorldSBK’s commercial rights-holder Dorna WSBK, free-to-air digital channel ITV4 will broadcast highlights of each round of the 2016 season, which started on February 26.
The highlights package will be broadcast in the week after each round, with ITV4 further tailoring its coverage to focus on the British stars of the paddock, including special interviews.
Manel Arroyo, managing director of television and media at Dorna Sports, said: “With MotoGP shown on the channel since 2015 and now WorldSBK to follow, having an experienced broadcast partner like ITV4 is another great step forward for WorldSBK, and is great news for the many fans who live in the UK.”
International sports broadcaster Eurosport last month agreed a three-season extension to its long-running rights agreement with WorldSBK. Eurosport will continue to show the series and its support categories across Europe for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons and will remain the exclusive live rights-holder in the UK.
British rider Jonathan Rea (pictured) kicked off his campaign to become the first back-to-back champion of the new millennium by taking a double win in the event at Phillip Island, Australia.