Media

The following profiles show the strengths and weaknesses of the five candidates seeking to take over from Juan Antonio Samaranch when he retires after 21 years in charge of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in July.

USA Network’s coverage of Wednesday’s US Open quarter final between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi defeated the premiere of CBS's reality show “The Amazing Race” in ratings for New York DMA TV homes.

US broadcaster RCN Corporation has failed in its attempt to glean secondary sports content from Cablevision after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) threw out the appeal.

US broadcaster EchoStar Communications has postponed an antitrust action against competing network DirecTV following the company’s attempts to merge with its rival.

Go Racing, the UK broadcasting consortium, moved closer to gaining vital pre-horseracing data after a successful meeting between the British Horseracing Board (BHB), the Racecourse Association (RCA) and the 49 racecourses which have signed up to Go Racing.

London stock exchange-listed 365 Corp has reported a loss of £16.9 million ($23.9m) for the year ended 31 March 2001, under-performing by nearly £5m ($7.1m) on consensus forecasts.

Marcus Leaver, the chief executive of sports website Rivals.net and head of Chrysalis New Media, has put “on hold” his threat to “name and shame” those websites which have failed to conduct regular audits.

British Eurosport has secured the live rights to the England versus Greece UEFA Under-21 European Championship qualifier.

ANC Sports, the marketing and media company which supplies signage systems for sports venues has signed a $12 million deal with financial services company GE Capital.

The Indian cricket team have secured a record sponsorship contract for the next three years. The deal with the Sahara Group - which has interests in airlines and media - will guarantee the Indian cricket board 690m ($14.7m) to 720m ($15.3m) rupees.

Lawrence Wong, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, has called for betting duty to be scrapped in what he regards would be the “ultimate solution” to the severe competition coming from on-line gambling sites.

Sport featured strongly with US television audiences last month, making up 16 of the top 20 shows broadcast on US cable channels in May.

Betting duty could come back to the UK, just three months after the chancellor Gordon Brown said he would get rid of the nine per cent tax on gamblers to encourage bookmakers to close their tax-free betting operations overseas.

Gaming Insight, the parent company of Gobarkingmad, the live 24-hour greyhound racing digital television channel where punters can see a race every five to eight minutes, has signed a five-year deal with betting company Victor Chandler to provide 140,000 Chandler account holders with a direct link to www.gobarkingmad.com.

Kate Hoey, the UK’s sports minister, has denied reports that the department of culture, media and sport (DCMS) is to be broken up after Britain’s general election on Thursday.

Digital Sport, the international sports and media company which owns pan-European soccer news website onefootball.com, has bought sports agency Icon Management Solutions, in a cash and shares deal. The acquisition is part of Digital’s move to become a broad-based sports management and media group.