Media
LA Lakers’ Kobe Bryant tribute draws big audience for ESPN
The Los Angeles Lakers' first game following the death of Kobe Bryant, against the Portland Trail Blazers on January 31, averaged 4.41m viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen figures.
Super Bowl ratings up slightly but fail to draw 100m linear TV viewers once again
Compelling game delivers 1.4 per cent boost in viewership
Canal Plus back for rights to Wilder-Fury II
French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus has acquired rights to the forthcoming boxing world title rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury
ProSieben scores Super Bowl record share, TF1 audience falls
German media group ProSiebenSat.1 posted a record market share in the key 14-to-49 year-old audience demographic last night with its live coverage of the NFL Super Bowl
RTVE picks up rights to new women’s Supercopa
Spanish public-service broadcaster RTVE has acquired rights to the inaugural edition of women’s club football competition, the Supercopa de España Femenina.
Consortium featuring McDonald and Norris lands PSL production
The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed the consortium of Tower Sports and SportzWorkz to handle broadcast production for the 2020 Pakistan Super League, the first edition of the Twenty20 competition…
WSC Sports enters South America with LNB deal
Israel-based WSC Sports, a provider of artificial intelligence-supported sports video highlights, has made its first move into the South American market by agreeing a deal with Liga Nacional de Basquete,…
BeIN appoints ex-Sky commercial director Verow to head up acquisitions
The international pay-television broadcaster beIN Media Group has appointed former Sky Sports commercial director, Richard Verow, to head up its global sports acquisitions and distribution business
IPO on horizon for Poland’s Canal Plus as TVN and Liberty Global eye exit
ITI Neovision, operator of the Polish pay-television platform Canal Plus, has said it is exploring an initial public offering for the stakes in the company held by minority shareholders, Polish broadcaster…
Sky’s head of UK operations van Rooyen adds Germany and Italy to role
Pay-television broadcaster Sky has extended the remit of Stephen van Rooyen, its head of UK operations, to encompass its German and Italian operations
Serie A ‘moves closer’ to Saturday lunchtime kick-off in play for Asian audience
Serie A, the top tier of Italian domestic football, is said to be contemplating the addition of a Saturday lunchtime kick-off time in a bid to appeal to Asian audiences
DAZN delves into esports in Brazil with Blast Premier deal
DAZN, the OTT subscription streaming service, has added esports to its offering in Brazil by agreeing a rights deal for the 2020 season of the Blast Premier global tournament series
Sky NZ completes Lightbox acquisition
Pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand has completed its purchase of OTT entertainment platform Lightbox from telco Spark.
Sky plans to merge Lightbox with its own OTT service Neon
Edgesport lands on STV Player in Scotland
IMG-owned action sports channel Edgesport has launched on STV Player, the online video-on-demand service of Scottish commercial broadcaster STV
Eurovision Sport and beIN strike Fina and LEN rights deals in France
Subscription broadcaster beIN Sports has increased its portfolio of broadcast rights in France to Fina- and LEN-sanctioned events in a new agreement with Eurovision Sport, the sports arm of the European…
LFP launches Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 websites
The French Professional Football League (LFP) has launched websites to showcase content from Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 that include a new feature called MyLigue.
The two sites — www.ligue1conforama.f
Costa Rican pay-TV channel to launch showcasing top-tier football
A new pay-television channel exclusively dedicated to football is scheduled to launch in Costa Rica next month
French rugby’s LNR in market for head of media rights
France's Ligue Nationale de Rugby has begun a search for head of broadcast rights and content