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Karajica exits ProSiebenSat.1 as 7Sports repositions itself
Željko Karajica, a leading figure in the German sports media-rights industry, is to leave ProSiebenSat.1, the commercial broadcasting group, amid a restructure of its sports unit 7Sports.
Lagardère Sports to be rebranded and Felsing returns in H.I.G. takeover
H.I.G. Europe, an arm of the international private equity and asset management firm, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Lagardère Sports agency.
AT&T sale of regional sports networks ‘falls short’
US telco AT&T's plans to sell its four regional sports networks as part of a wider plan to slash the company’s debts is faltering, according to the New York Post.
Sony invests in UK production firm Whisper
Whisper Group has secured investment from Sony Pictures Television, a move that involves the UK-based production company’s exit from the free-to-air broadcaster Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund in pursuit of …
Canal Plus posts further subscriber decline in France
Pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus posted another decline in subscriber numbers in France in 2019, although the rate of decrease slowed, according to parent company Vivendi’s year-end results.
Dplay added in new Discovery-Telenor distribution agreement
International media group Discovery has finalised a new multi-year carriage deal with telecoms operator Telenor across the Nordic region, adding the distribution of the Dplay streaming offering into the…
Spotify deal for The Ringer ‘worth $250m’
US audio streaming subscription service Spotify will be paying $250m (€229m) for the Ringer, the multimedia sports and pop culture content hub created by Bill Simmons, according to figures reported by B…
Canal and beIN complete exclusive distribution, Ligue 1 sublicensing deal
French pay-television broadcasters Canal Plus and beIN Sports have announced the formal completion of their exclusive distribution and Ligue 1 sub-licensing deal
Sky NZ profits fall sharply but streaming subscriptions grow amid rights drive
Pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand has reported a 78-per-cent fall in half-year profit but has hailed a growth in subscriptions to its streaming services amid its sports-focused media-rights and…
SportBusiness Media 24:03
Inside this issue:
FOOTBALL: Nent’s colossal Premier League deal shakes up Nordic market
CYCLING: Tour, Vuelta deals good for EBU and Discovery but ASO incentive uncertain
F
FanCode targets ‘long-tail’ content for Indian subscription video launch this year
Indian online sports media platform FanCode is launching a subscription video product this year, built on content not currently covered by Indian broadcasters.
SportBusiness Media 24:02
Inside this issue:
FOOTBALL: Uefa continues to grow club competition income in Austria & Switzerland
HANDBALL: EHF Champions League rescheduling hits rights round in France
Middle East and Africa market report, 2020
In the latest interactive monthly data report, SportBusiness Media analyses the media-rights landscape in the Middle East and Africa.
Setanta to add second channel in Ukraine
Subscription broadcaster Setanta Sports is planning to launch a second channel in Ukraine, having gone live with its service in the country just over six months ago
NBC Olympics enters into NowThis content partnership
The NBC Olympics division of US media company NBCUniversal will partner with mobile-first video news outlet NowThis to produce content focused on United States Olympic and Paralympic athletes in the lead-up …
CBS Sports signs sports betting partnership with William Hill
CBS Sports has announced a strategic partnership with bookmaker William Hill, which will become the official sports book and wagering data provider across all CBS Sports platforms in the United States.
BeIN Sports Xtra added to Samsung OTT platform
BeIN Sports has added its live sports streaming channel, beIN Sports Xtra, to the Samsung TV Plus service
YLE keeps hold of Olympics in Discovery sublicensing deal
Finnish public-service broadcaster YLE has sublicensed selected free-to-air and radio rights to the 2022 and 2024 Olympic Games from international media group Discovery
VOS engages Stats Perform to support LatAm sports service launch
US digital media group VOS has agreed a deal with sports data and technology company Stats Perform to aid the launch of applications providing a “customisable sporting experience” to consumers in Latin Ame…
Disney Plus launch in India to coincide with IPL
Disney is launching its Disney Plus OTT service in India on March 29, to coincide with the start of the Indian Premier League cricket season
Deltatre recruits MLB broadcast executive Johnson
Sports streaming technology company Deltatre has hired Major League Baseball’s James Johnson to the role of vice-president, Americas business development within its Live division.
ESPN+ climbs to 7.6m paid subscribers following Disney+ launch
ESPN+, ESPN’s direct-to-consumer sports streaming service, now has 7.6 million paid subscribers, Disney chief executive Bob Iger revealed in a quarterly earnings call.
That is a huge climb from 3.5
Pluto TV expands to Latin America
Pluto TV, the free, ad-supported streaming service owned by US media group ViacomCBS, will launch in Latin America next month
Croatia’s Iskon.tv strikes Arena Sport deal, drops Sportklub
Croatian IPTV platform Iskon.tv has struck a new carriage deal with Arena Sport after electing to drop fellow pay-television broadcaster Sportklub.
Arena Sport’s channels are now available to Iskon.t
Vivendi to appeal court ruling over Mediaset’s European plans
French media group Vivendi has said it will appeal a ruling from a Milan court rejecting its requests to suspend the resolutions adopted by Mediaset over its MediaForEurope (MFE) project
BeIN appoints ex-Sky commercial director Verow to head up acquisitions
The international pay-television broadcaster beIN Media Group has appointed former Sky Sports commercial director, Richard Verow, to head up its global sports acquisitions and distribution business
IPO on horizon for Poland’s Canal Plus as TVN and Liberty Global eye exit
ITI Neovision, operator of the Polish pay-television platform Canal Plus, has said it is exploring an initial public offering for the stakes in the company held by minority shareholders, Polish broadcaster…
Sky’s head of UK operations van Rooyen adds Germany and Italy to role
Pay-television broadcaster Sky has extended the remit of Stephen van Rooyen, its head of UK operations, to encompass its German and Italian operations
Sky NZ completes Lightbox acquisition
Pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand has completed its purchase of OTT entertainment platform Lightbox from telco Spark.
Sky plans to merge Lightbox with its own OTT service Neon
FreeSports launches streaming service in the UK
Digital terrestrial channel FreeSports is now available as an ad-funded streaming service in the UK, the company said today (Thursday)
LaLigaSportsTV agrees deal with Samsung for Android TV carriage
LaLiga, the governing body for the top-two divisions of Spanish football, has agreed a deal with tech firm Samsung to carry the LaLigaSportsTV OTT platform
Piracy costing almost $84m every year, says Digiturk chief
The executive vice-president of Digiturk, beIN Sports’ Turkish subsidiary, has urged greater action against piracy after revealing the pay-television broadcaster is losing nearly TRY500m ($84m) per year a…
Eurosport to broadcast from German House, eyes improved Olympics highlights audience
Eurosport Germany is to broadcast daily live coverage from the German House at the 2020 Olympic Games after reaching an agreement with Deutsche Sport Marketing, the commercial of the German Olympic Sports…
Discovery wins favourable injunction in DSport dispute
Media group Discovery has secured an interim injunction from the Delhi High Court restraining Lex Sportel Vision from using "DSport", the brand name of their formerly jointly-operated sports pay-television…
Ashes, Open and Champions League final ‘not set for UK ‘crown jewels’ list’
Calls for the UK government to add golf’s Open Championship, the Ashes cricket series and the final of football’s Uefa Champions League to the so-called ‘crown jewels’ list of sporting events have reporte…
UK Olympic, Paralympic bodies pool media rights, plan OTT platform
UK Olympic and Paralympic sports bodies have created a company to collectively manage their media rights, with the intention of exploiting them on an OTT platform developed in partnership with a media…
TV Azteca, Televisa pick up Tokyo 2020 rights in Mexico
Mexican commercial broadcaster TV Azteca and pay-television operator Televisa have announced that they will provide coverage of this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.