Football

The Venezuelan Premier League switched from free to pay television, earning itself a 20 per cent increase. The IOC has switched from broadcasting union the OTI topay-operator Telesur.

Resurgent competition between pay-television operators Modern Times Group and Canal Plus is driving up fees in the Nordics.

Competition between Sky Italia and Mediaset Premium presents Serie A with an opportunity to enrich itself, but it must be careful of killing off one of the competitors, or forcing them into collusion.

The agency has creatively diced up rights for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A and several other football leagues between broadcasters in Japan and Vietnam in an effort to maximise profits. Results have been mixed.

RCS-RDS wraps up Premier League ... Battling HiTV wins Serie A ... Japan to reclaim Tour's No.1 status ... Crozier's role in ITV rugby win ... Universum seeking ZDF successor.

Prisa-owned pay-television broadcaster Sogecable is seeking international rights deals for La Liga in the expectation that existing deals brokered by the Mediapro agency will be ruled invalid by a court ruling next month.

In exclusive interviews, Lega Serie A president Maurizio Beretta and director general Marco Brunelli explain the blueprint for future rights growth for Italian football's top division.

The German IPTV operator is in talks to buy F1, Serie A and European Tour golf rights, suggesting it could be about to present a bigger challenge to dominant pay-TV operator Sky Deutschland.

World Cup breaks viewing records once again, although average audience falls in four of the European 'Big Five'.

The Spanish rights agency's insolvency is being seen as a tactical move, although it has lost Serie A rights after missing a payment.

Figures and comment on online and mobile viewing of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

HiTV's loss of its Premier League rights have raised fears it will not be able to pay for other rights, including Uefa Champions League and Europa League.

IMG has bought the overseas rights for the league in a deal brokered by agency Muy Manero.

The Hong Kong pay-broadcaster's fee matches the total amount Manchester United earned from overseas sales of its channel over the last three years.

The BBC and ITV are refusing to meet Fifa's asking price for Euro 2012, but the broadcasters could be undermined by a European court ruling this autumn.

Fifa is claiming its 3D broadcasts of the World Cup a success despite criticism by some that it was a premature use of the new technology.

Greece's broadcasters are pushing to renegotiate sports rights contracts as the country's economy battles with massive debts.

The telco is about to pick up the Champions League rights dropped last month by Boom, the insolvent pay-television broadcaster.