Mediaset

Italian state broadcaster Rai is the strong favourite to land the rights for Euro 2016, which were put out to tender this week, and is expected to do so at a substantial discount.

Italy’s Lega Serie A will enter into talks on Monday with three bidders for media-rights packages in relation to the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana club football competitions, according to the IlVelino.it website.

Italian media group Mediaset has moved to reject reports that it will seek to sublicense some of its exclusive rights to club football competition the Uefa Champions League, stating such suggestions have the “sole purpose of confusing the public."

Spanish commercial broadcaster Mediaset has agreed a three-year deal with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for national team and club competition rights.

Italian media company RTI has approved the transfer of sports media-rights and pay-television operations to a new company, Mediaset Premium Spa, on December 1.

Spanish commercial broadcaster Mediaset will switch live coverage of the country’s top-tier football Liga from its Cuatro channel to digital-terrestrial channel Energy.

Spanish broadcaster Mediaset, which owns the Telecinco and Cuatro commercial channels, has acquired rights for next month’s Fifa Club World Cup football tournament in Morocco.

UK pay-television broadcaster BSkyB could aim to merge Sky Italia with rival pay-television service Mediaset Premium when it finalises a deal to acquire the Italian company, according to analysts at Bernstein.

Commercial broadcaster Mediaset Spain has acquired exclusive rights in the country to Formula E, ahead of the motor-racing series’ debut on Saturday.

Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset has renewed media rights for the Superbike World Championship motorcycling series.

Mediaset Spain will be able to show more games from the ongoing Basketball World Cup after fans complained about the commercial broadcaster’s limited coverage of the tournament, which is taking place in Spain.

Rupert Murdoch’s two Italian pay-television businesses – the Sky Italia satellite platform and the Fox Sports premium channel – reinforced their football portfolios this week as rival operator Mediaset inched closer to a deal to sell a stake in its Mediaset Premium platform to Qatari broadcaster beIN Sports.

Agcom, Italy’s communications regulator, has approved sublicensing deals between pay-television broadcaster Sky Italia and Mediaset Premium’s parent company RTI for coverage of domestic football’s top-tier Serie A.

Last week’s Serie A rights-sharing deal between Italian pay-television operators Mediaset Premium and Sky Italia does not appear to presage a wider truce between the two companies, including a sharing of Uefa Champions League rights.

Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica has agreed to acquire an 11.1 per cent stake in the Mediaset Premium pay-television service of Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset, while it has completed a deal to buy Mediaset Espana’s 22 per cent holding in Spanish pay-television operator Canal Plus.