Skiing

Football
Asia

Biathlon
Austria

With European football taking its mid-season break, the TV Sports Markets European survey for January shows top winter sports events dominating the tables.
Athletics
Hungary

Football rights to be used to transform cable entertainment channel into a sports channel
Football
Czech Republic

Football: The Latin American broadcasting union, Organización de Telecomunicaciones Ibero-americanas, acquired the rights for the 2006 World Cup in 15 countries, excluding Brazil, from the Infront Sports & Media agency.

Skiing
Europe

Italian public-service broadcaster Rai is close to finalising a deal with Italian agency Media Partners to acquire the rights for skiing’s alpine world cup.
Handball
France

Ice hockey: US network NBC agreed a one-year extension to its revenue-sharing deal with the National Hockey League, through to the end of the 2008-09 season
Biathlon
Europe

The TV Sports Markets monthly survey of European sports viewing in December shows Champions League second-phase matches topping the tables in six of 19 countries surveyed.
Skiing
Europe

Paolo Francia is coming under increasing pressure over his role in the rights negotiations for skiing’s alpine World Cup.

Badminton
Denmark

Minor sports in Denmark have turned to the internet to increase their exposure and drive revenues rather than rely on traditional broadcasters.

Basketball
Africa

Football: Polish pay-television operator Canal Plus acquired the main package of Serie A rights for the three years from 2007-08 to 2009-10 in a deal with the Media Partners and Silva agency.

Football
Australia

Olympics: TVNZ, New Zealand’s public-service broadcaster, exercised an option to acquire the new-media rights for the 2008 Beijing Olympics in a deal with the International Olympic Committee. 
Cycling
Europe

Antena 3 to expand expand sports programming on DTT channel Neox, after acquisition of World Cup skiing rights
Skiing

The EBU has asked the Fédération Internationale de Ski, to reduce the length of the Alpine World Championships in order to cut television costs.

Basketball
Asia

Boxing: German commercial broadcaster RTL acquired the rights for the next four fights of Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko in a deal with the Sportfive agency worth €10m (£6.8m).

Football
Europe

Kirch's Bundesliga deal, Forstmann's 3-year anniversary at IMG, La Liga fee cut, German skiing fiasco
Baseball
Central America

Baseball: America’s Major League Baseball signed seven-year deals with US national network Fox, extending its present contract but for a reduced amount of coverage, and with cable network TBS for a package of Sunday and post-season games.

Football
Europe

The switch-over in Finland from analogue to digital-terrestrial television transmission could shake up the country’s “quiet and closed” sports-rights market.

Skiing
Finland

Finnish viewing figures for ski-jumping’s blue-riband Four Hills tournament soared