Multi-sport

Chinese investment fund Orient Hontai is the remaining bidder in the race to acquire Imagina, the parent company of Spanish agency Mediapro, according to the El Español news service.

Media and entertainment company Discovery Communications has resolved a carriage dispute with Finnish telecommunications company Telia

Jiangsu Suning Sports, whose sister operations include streaming platform PPTV, has formed a partnership with sports and entertainment company DDMC in order to strengthen their respective positions in the Chinese sports media market.

Input Media, one of Europe’s leading sports production companies, has been acquired by Gravity Media Group, a holding company that owns, operates and acquires businesses serving the live broadcast sector globally.

Media and entertainment company Discovery Communications has been hit with another carriage dispute after Finnish telecommunications company Telia said it will no longer offer its channels to its television customers in the Nordic markets from June 8.

French media group Vivendi has secured European Union antitrust approval for its plan to gain control of Telecom Italia after the European Commission said it has agreed to sell the Italian telecommunications company’s majority stake in broadcasting services group Persidera.

Korean consumer electronics company Samsung has signed virtual reality content partnerships with the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts promotion and action sports series the X Games, while Modern Times Group, the multi-territory commercial and pay-television broadcaster, has launched a new VR platform.

LeSports, which is operated by Chinese internet company LeEco, has said it has sealed a new round of funding that values it at Y24bn (€3.2bn/$3.5bn), adding that its investors will form a new body that will seek to supervise its financial affairs.

Social media company Twitter has hired Todd Swidler to the new position of global head of live business as it seeks to continue its drive into the live content marketplace.

Internet company Amazon will start offering live television channels, including Eurosport, via its Prime Video subscription service in the UK for an extra fee.

US second-screen live sports television prediction platform WinView has raised $12m (€11m) in a Series B funding round whose participants include international media and entertainment company Discovery Communications.

The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation has launched a new sports channel in partnership with Kwesé Sports, which is operated by the Econet Media telecommunications company.

Sports media and technology company Deltatre has hired Google executive Claude London to lead what it says will be a major expansion into the Americas.

The Infront Sports & Media agency has sealed a host of broadcast deals across an array of summer and winter sports properties.

Suhyeon Cho is to step down as chief commercial officer of the MP & Silva agency just four months after being appointed to the role.

The International Olympic Committee will earn about 40 per cent more from sub-Saharan Africa compared to the previous two-Games cycle, taking advantage of Kwesé Sports’ strong desire for Olympic association, TV Sports Markets understands.