A record five-year broadcasting deal will see Pitch International distribute coverage and the overseas rights of The Football League and Carling Cup matches beginning from next season.

 

 

World Snooker and sports media company Perform have agreed a 5-year contract to stream all professional tournaments live on the internet, through a new website www.liveworldsnooker.tv and also bookmaker website streaming facilities.

All tournaments will be broadcast, including ranking event qualifiers and Players Tour Championship events. However, the deal stipulates that streaming will not be available in territories where live broadcasts of the tournaments are already accessible.

World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: “This is a hugely significant deal in terms of getting snooker out to the furthest corners of the globe. For people who love snooker but live in territories like North America or South America where there isn’t much of it on TV, they can go online and see every tournament.

“Perform are leading experts on streaming and I have worked with them on other sports including darts, with great success. They will also play a role in the production of content and we have no doubt about their capacity to deliver.”

Oliver Slipper, Joint-CEO, Perform, added: “We’re delighted to add the World Snooker tournaments to our portfolio of LIVESPORT events and across Watch&Bet. These platforms provide snooker with an opportunity to reach millions of fans globally and also provide an opportunity to commercialise content in regions and sectors that were not previously available.”

One of the largest media companies in Latin America have been awarded broadcasting rights for London 2012. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the broadcast rights in Mexico for the London 2012 Olympic Games to Televisa.

The Mexican broadcaster will air the Games via free-to-air, order cable and satellite television, as well as radio.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said: “We are delighted to continue our work with Televisa in Mexico, and I would like to thank them for their continuing support of the Olympic Movement.”

IOC executive board member Richard Carrión, who led the negotiations, said: “This is the first time we have negotiated rights directly in Mexico and we are delighted to continue our relationship with Televisa, whom we are certain will continue to provide fantastic coverage of the Games.”

The British Broadcasting Corporation has announced it will broadcast the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, one of the most prestigious races in Europe, from the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris on Sunday 2nd October.

The group one flat horse race is the second richest horse race on turf, and carried a prize purse of US$5.7 million last year.

Head of BBC Sport “We’re delighted to be able to bring this great, hugely prestigious race once again to the UK audience,” said head of BBC TV Sport

The UK broadcast rights for the Formula One world championship will be shared by the BBC and Sky from next year until 2018. The new deal ends the BBC’s exclusive coverage of the sport and means only ten Grands Prix a year will be shown live on free-to-air television.

It will be the first time that the entire Formula One will not be broadcast on free-to-air television in the UK.

While Sky will broadcast the entire season – including every race, qualifying and practice session – live, the BBC will only broadcast half live, with extended highlights of the rest. The BBC’s live races will include the British and Monaco Grands Prix, as well as the season finale. The rest of the races for next season have yet to be allocated, although it is likely that races that fall outside the European lunchtime timezone will be live exclusively on Sky Sports.

The shared broadcast rights agreement comes amidst a sustained effort by the BBC to cut costs, with its sports rights portfolio one of the key areas identified for budget savings.

Barbara Slater,  who is the director of sport at the BBC said the broadcaster was “absolutely delighted” at the deal, also saying: “With this new deal not only have we delivered significant savings but we have also ensured that through our live and extended highlights coverage all the action continues to be available to license-fee payers.” The BBC has retained exclusive radio rights to the sport.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “This is fantastic news for Formula One fans. We will give Formula One the full Sky Sports treatment with a commitment to each race never seen before on UK television.”

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ITV is to stream live coverage of the Rugby World Cup live on iPhone and iPads as the television broadcaster seeks to expand beyond its traditional television offering.

The tournament, which will take place in September in New Zealand, will see the commercial broadcaster extend its platforms to run games across television and mobile platforms. The plans were announced as chief executive Adam Crozier discussed the channel’s finances.

The Times reports that Crozier said that the ITV was in better financial shape than it was 15 months ago, with an increase of 86% of half-year profits to £204m.

“When I arrived, you couldn’t move without someone telling you we needed to do a rights issue. Now they’re asking us what we’re going to do with our cash,” Crozier said.

ESPN has renewed its multi-year agreement with pay-TV service CanalSat which enables the company to carry ESPN America and ESPN Classic in France, health Monaco and French-speaking Switzerland.

ESPN Classic, dedicated to sports legends, heritage and history, is available on CanalSat’s Sport Pack, as is ESPN America, a channel focused on professional and collegiate sports of the United States and Canada.

Murray Barnett, vice-president of sports channels and syndication for ESPN’s Europe Middle East and Asia division said: “For nearly a decade, we’ve had a strong relationship with CanalSat, and we’re very pleased to continue that long-standing collaboration and to deliver outstanding sports content to the passionate sports fans in France.

“ESPN America continues to grow behind the increase in popularity of US sports in France and across Europe, and the recent update to ESPN Classic offers CanalSat subscribers a fresh and passionate look at the biggest legends and moments in sports with a unique editorial voice.”

The length of the deal and financial terms have not been disclosed.