Cricket

Athletics: The IMG agency acquired the international television rights for the newly-created Diamond League in a five-year deal, 2010 to 2014, guaranteeing around $6m (€4.7m) a year.

Sony is facing a massive loss on its coverage of India’s cricket tour to New Zealand, which started this week.

Asian broadcaster Ten Sports secured the rights for international cricket in South Africa despite reducing its initial offer by about $10 million.

Athletics: The Organización de Telecomunicaciones Iberoamericanas, the Latin American broadcasting union, acquired the rights for the 2009 World Championship for member broadcasters in Argentina (cable …

The lack of government legislation in India over news access to sports events is provoking further tension between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Nimbus Communications agency.

South Africa’s state broadcaster, SABC, was slammed last week over its request for extensive additions to the country’s list of events of national importance that must be aired on free-to-air television.

Asian Games: Hong Kong pay-broadcaster I-Cable Communications acquired the exclusive television and internet rights for the 2010 Asian Games, in Guangzhou, in a deal worth an estimated $1m (€780,000).

UK pay-broadcaster Setanta’s audiences for Premier League football are up 56 per cent on last season, according to the latest figures.

New domestic deals for two of Europe’s top five football leagues accounted for two of the three biggest television rights contracts signed in 2008.

Athletics: French pay-television operator Canal Plus will broadcast the new six-meeting Ligue national d’athlétisme after nuclear energy company Aveva stepped in with a new sponsorship deal.

Basketball: Brazilian commercial broadcaster Globo is to acquire the rights for the new, top-flight domestic basketball league, Novo Basquete Brasil, for R$1.5m (€474,000/ $633,710) a season.

A multi-million dollar deal for the Asian rights for international cricket in South Africa looks likely to become another victim of the economic crisis.

Athletics: UK public-service broad-caster the BBC extended its deal for domestic athletics events for a further six years, from 2009 to 2014

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s expectation of an early pay-day from its new lucrative television rights deal has been struck a major blow by last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

American Football: US cable sports network ESPN acquired the rights for the college football Bowl Championship Series.

Negotiations for the European rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics were building to a climax this week, as talks intensified between the EBU and the IOC

The launch of Australia’s first-ever free-to-air sports channel, One, is an unprecedented challenge to leading pay sports broadcaster Fox Sports.

The Premier League may offer overseas broadcasters a ready-made Premier League channel in the next three-year rights cycle, as it looks to maintain the steep increase in its international rights revenue in a softening market.