British free-to-air broadcaster ITV has agreed a new two-year deal with The Football Association (FA) for the broadcast rights to the pick of The FA Cup and England internationals, including home qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, from the 2012-13 to 2013-14 seasons.

As part of the new agreement with The FA, ITV1 will continue to broadcast the first pick of FA Cup games throughout the season from the First Round to The Final; as well as the third choice game pick in the Fifth and Sixth Rounds and the fourth choice pick in the Third and Fourth Rounds. ITV1 will also have first choice of replays from the Third to Sixth Rounds. In total, ITV will broadcast up to 16 live games across each season in addition to comprehensive highlights from every round.

ITV will also continue to be the free-to-air home of England internationals including all home qualifying games for the FIFA 2014 World Cup and all home and away friendlies during the two year period. Away qualifiers are sold by opposition associations and therefore do not fall under this FA agreement.

The football season’s traditional curtain raiser, The FA Community Shield, will also return to free-to-air television in 2012 and 2013 under the new deal. ITV will also extend its commitment with The FA across the two seasons to encompass live coverage of six games from The FA Youth Cup on ITV4, including the Semi-Finals and Final of the competition.

ITV Director of Television, Peter Fincham said: “The FA Cup and England internationals are events with huge resonance and appeal for our viewers. I’m delighted that we are extending our partnership with The FA and that ITV1 will continue to be the home of live football on free-to-air television.”

Stuart Turner, FA Group Commercial Director added: “We enjoy a great relationship with ITV and this extension to our agreement underlines that. Having The FA Cup and England alongside other ITV content such as the UEFA Champions League and World Cups shows that our football content holds its own in exalted company. It further confirms ITV’s position as the home of free-to-air live football.”

In this season’s Third Round, fans came out in force to demonstrate their love for The Cup. The 32 ties attracted a total attendance of 581,949, giving an average per match of 18,185, which is the highest since the 1980-81 season.

Virgin Media has signed a deal with with Sky to offer the forthcoming Sky Sports Formula One channel to its cable TV subscribers in March.

Sky Sports F1, the satellite broadcaster’s first TV channel dedicated to just one sport, will offer live coverage of all the Grand Prix race events from 2012 to 2018 under Sky’s controversial new joint F1 rights deal with the BBC.

Alongside launching on Sky in March, the new channel will also be offered on Virgin Media’s cable TV platform in the Sky Sports package, alongside Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports 4. 

Virgin Media’s subscribers to this package will have the channel added automatically at launch. However, Virgin will not be able to offer the high definition version of Sky Sports F1, as that will stay exclusive to Sky.

Sky Sports F1 will be solely dedicated to covering the world’s premium motorsport, including live coverage of all 20 Grand Prix, practice and qualifying sessions.

The channel will have a new presentation team made up mostly of ex-BBC talent, including Martin Brundle, David Croft, Ted Kravitz and Natalie Pinkham, backed up by the likes of Georgie Thompson, Simon Lazenby and Steve Rider.

Alongside the race coverage, Sky Sports F1 will also offer a range of programme devoted to the history, glamour and technical innovation of Formula One. 

Virgin Media executive director of digital entertainment Cindy Rose said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer this new channel right from the off as it’s certain to be an exciting Formula 1 season with a record number of races and six former or current world champions racing for the title.”

Sky’s director of the commercial group Rob Webster added: “As the new home of the world’s most exciting motorsport series, Formula 1 is going to get the full Sky Sports treatment.

“Extending the distribution of our dedicated channel is great news for all Sky Sports subscribers, enabling millions of pay TV homes to enjoy the benefits of our innovative coverage and investment in must-see content.”

The decision for the BBC to share the Formula One broadcasting rights with Sky from 2012 to 2018 has been criticised by some viewers, as it will result in half of the live races only being available on pay-TV.

The Football Association (FA) has awarded its European broadcast rights for the 2012-18 period to sports marketing agency Pitch International.

The deal grants Pitch the exclusive right to distribute matches from FA Competitions and home England internationals from the beginning of the 2012-13 season throughout Europe. 

The agreement does not include England home qualification matches that take place between 2014-2018, nurse as these will be centrally marketed by UEFA.

The deal sees The Football Association extend its long-running relationship with Pitch International, store The FA’s current partner in selected countries in Europe and Australasia alongside brokering The FA’s relationship with Middle Eastern broadcaster, Al-Jazeera. In addition, Pitch manages The FA’s footage archive and the technical and satellite requirements of The FA’s international broadcast partners.

Stuart Turner, Commercial Director at The FA, said: “The Football Association is delighted to extend its successful partnership with Pitch International. Their expertise in the sports rights market and enthusiasm for our competitions impressed throughout a highly competitive tender process.”

Jon Owen, of Pitch International, added: “England and FA Cup matches remain hugely attractive to sports broadcasters worldwide. This new, long-term contract is a great accolade for Pitch in recognition of its past work with The FA and we very much look forward to helping The FA further enhance its strong position in the overseas market in the years to come.”

Public service broadcaster Rozhlas a Televízia Slovenska (RTVS) have secured Slovakian rights to all 31 matches of Euro 2012, cough UEFA have announced.

RTVS will ensure extensive live free-to-air coverage of 27 matches and delayed transmission of the four overlapping matches from the group stage on its main channels Jednotka and Dvojka for the tournament taking place in Poland and Ukraine.

RTVS has also acquired the rights to show UEFA EURO 2012 dedicated magazine and daily highlights programmes. In addition, RTVS will deliver comprehensive coverage of the championship via its radio channels, Slovensky Rozhlas, and its internet and mobile platforms.

University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s (UMass) athletic department has selected ZiXi’s cloud-based Video Transport Platform, thumb award-winning provider of solutions and services to televise its sporting events for the 2011-2012 season.

UMass is scheduled to produce and air more than 50 Division 1 games on two New England stations, price buy WBIN-TV and WSHM-TV.

UMass-Amherst has a renowned Division I athletics program, ambulance which includes basketball, football, hockey, lacrosse, softball, swimming, tennis, and track and field. In order to better serve its thousands of loyal fans across New England, the athletic department wanted to both improve the image quality of its broadcasts and broaden its athletic team coverage. UMass had begun airing games on television using a homegrown solution during the 2010-11 season. Wanting to upgrade the on-air quality of these broadcasts, UMass originally considered buying satellite time or using fiber transmission, but those options proved to be far too expensive for a University budget. When UMass learned of ZiXi’s groundbreaking video transmission solution that uses the Internet instead of satellite or fiber, they were intrigued.

“As a Division I athletic department, UMass wants its fans to be able to follow their favorite teams even if they can’t make all of the games. So, what they see on TV has to be high quality,” said Josh Maurer, assistant athletic director for Broadcasting at UMass. “ZiXi enabled us to give our fans exactly what they want, more real-time, broadcast-quality programming, all within a University budget.”

Israel Drori, ZiXi’s CEO and founder, added: “New Englanders are huge sports fans, so we are thrilled to help UMass broaden its televised coverage and improve the image quality of its Division 1 games. ZiXi turns the Internet into a better, smarter more affordable way to transport video while maintaining the highest video quality. So, even when televising athletic events, which presents unique challenges due to the amount of movement involved, ZiXi delivers the game in real-time. And, UMass can use ZiXi to extend its viewership to mobile devices and tablets, allowing fans the freedom to watch games anywhere, anytime, and on any device.”

ZiXi’s Video Transport solutions deliver live and video on demand distribution from the field over the Internet at a fraction of the cost of expensive fiber and satellite video distribution solutions. The patented ZiXi Video Transport Platform eliminates the common problems associated with video distribution, including packet loss, jitter and latency. For mobile and Over-the-top providers, ZiXi ensures optimum video quality and scalability for a wide range of devices and screen sizes, delivering an unparalleled viewing experience in vibrant and reliable HD to a large subscriber base.

NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network have partnered with DTS, Inc, a leader in high-definition audio, and Cumulus Media to broadcast all of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs home and away games with DTS Neural Surround technology.

As a result of this partnership, fans will enjoy a fully-immersive and engaging listening experience—marking football’s first surround sound broadcast delivery across radio. This announcement builds upon an existing collaboration between DTS and Cumulus Media, which enabled the integration of DTS technology to deliver surround sound broadcasts of the Atlanta Braves games.

“At Cumulus, we set the standard for the next-generation radio broadcasting enterprise and we are very proud to deliver what we consider the best sounding football broadcast in America,” said Gary Kline, senior vice president of engineering and IT, Cumulus Media. “Working with DTS technology raises our listeners’ experiences by enveloping them with the sounds of the action and stadium, giving them the best seats in the house.”

The DTS Neural Surround gear is built by DTS licensee DaySequerra and integrated both on-site at Arrowhead Stadium and with the Chiefs Radio Network mobile package. The DTS-based set-up allows the audio team to broadcast immersive 5.1 surround sound over a stereo transmission path. Using the stereo format at the highest resolution possible, DTS Neural Surround enables the Chiefs’ broadcast production team to preserve the integrity of the surround mix for a realistic, multi-dimensional audio experience. For football enthusiasts, every play will feature crisp, clear frequencies that transport listeners to the 50-yard line.

“Football is a visceral sport where audio plays an important role in defining the fan experience, especially for remote audiences,” added Jon Kirchner, CEO of DTS, Inc. “The sounds of the game—helmets colliding, quarterback audibles, referee calls, the cheers and chants of the crowd—are what sports fans are hungry for, whether they experience the action in person, on TV or on the radio.”

Joe D’Angelo, senior vice president of broadcast programs and advanced services at iBiquity Digital, stated, “We are very pleased that Cumulus and DTS have expanded their surround sound from the Major League Baseball to the NFL. The combination of the DTS system and HD Radio technology provides the listener with crystal clear digital audio with the enhancement of a surround sound experience.”

The Chiefs Radio Network comprises more than 50 stations and joins DTS’ content partner roster alongside American Public Media, JazzSet and others. More than 1,000 radio stations in the U.S. are now broadcasting in DTS Neural Surround to elevate the audio quality and enhance the entertainment experience for listeners.

For the first time in 20 years the New York City Marathon will be shown on national television after they signed a five-year deal with ABC and ESPN.

Marathon officials and WABC-TV/ESPN announced the deal Monday.

Beginning this year, the marathon will be shown live on ESPN2 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Eastern and in New York on ABC from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. ABC will also broadcast nationally a two-hour highlight show. The deal reunites the marathon with ABC, which carried live national broadcasts of the race from 1981-93.

The 26.2-mile race annually draws the world’s top professional runners in a field of more than 45,000 participants from all 50 states and more than 125 countries.

The New York City Marathon is scheduled for Nov. 4.

British television broadcaster ITV has announced today a new agreement with the Tour de France to air coverage of the race until 2015.

The new deal agreed with Tour organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) will allow ITV to continue its package of live coverage and highlights programmes. ITV will also increase the amount of coverage offered digitally, including online.

The new deal comes on the back of a successful year of cycling coverage for ITV. The company reports that its coverage of the 2011 Tour netted an increase in audience of 33 per cent compared to 2010. It also broadcast coverage of the 2011 Vuelta a Espana for the first time, in addition to coverage of the Tour of Britain, Tour Series and Revolution track events.

Niall Sloane, controller of Sport at ITV, said: “ITV’s coverage of the Tour de France has a terrific reputation with viewers and sports fans and I’m delighted that, in one of the most exciting periods for British cycling, we have secured coverage on ITV4 until 2015.”

The 2012 Tour de France starts on Saturday June 30 in Liege, Belgium, and finishes in Paris on Sunday, July 22.

The Buffalo Bills have announced a new multi-year radio broadcasting partnership with Entercom Communications to broadcast all Bills football games on WGR (550 AM) in Buffalo beginning with the 2012 season.

The Buffalo Bills Radio Network will also be heard on Entercom’s WCMF (96.5 FM) and WROC (950 AM) in Rochester plus another 19 stations throughout the New York State region.

Entercom’s WBEN had previously been the flagship station of the Bills from 1979-1989 and again from 1994-1997.

WGR (550 AM) will air Buffalo Bills football games beginning with the Bills first preseason game in 2012.  The schedule of games will be announced at a later date.

In addition to the live game broadcasts, salve other Bills related programming will include a live Head Coach Show, purchase live General Manager Show, Bills player programming and a live Bills CEO Show where fans will have the chance to ask questions and interact with the Bills Chief Executive Officer.

“We are excited about the Bills move to WGR 550 AM in Buffalo and the opportunity to speak and engage with our loyal fans, while providing them with the ability to hear our games on the 24/7 sports station they listen to most,” Russ Brandon, Buffalo Bills chief executive officer said in a news release. “Teaming with a powerful local brand like Entercom is a tremendous way for us to reach a wide variety of listeners, from teenagers and their families to seasoned sports enthusiasts alike.”

Greg Ried, Entercom Vice President and General Manager said in a news release, said: “We are thrilled and proud to be the broadcast home of the Buffalo Bills. With our 24/7 WGR 550 AM sports station, partnering with the Bills and adding them to our line-up compliments our other programming, enhances the experience for loyal fans and attracts new listeners. Big-time sports, on a big-time sports station is what listeners expect and the Bills certainly help provide all of that.”

American multinational company, price Apple, pills are looking for further global domination by taking on Sky, the BBC and multimedia rival Google in the billion-pound fight for the rights to broadcast Premier League football in the UK.

With bidding for the 2013-2014 season and beyond set to take place before the end of the current, 2011-2012 soccer season, there have been suggestions that both Apple and Google will bid for future English Premier League rights to promote their respective set-top box offerings, according to the Daily Mail.

While Apple TV already presents its American users a host of subscribed sport, such as Major League Baseball and NBA Basketball, there is little to cater for the UK audience.

According to the perpetual whisper-mill, the California based giant is readying its own television sets for the latter half of 2012, such content would certainly be a clever way of getting Brits on board.

With stiff competition from ESPN and Al Jezeera, the Murdoch monopoly over Premier League broadcasting faces a uphill battle. Sky paid £1.6bn for the current broadcast rights and the figure may rise even higher this year.