France is the only country in Europe's Top 5, where the Champions League is only broadcast on pay-TV

France is the only country in the Top 5 European leagues (alongside Germany, England, Spain and Italy) where no Champions League matches (except the final) are broadcast on a free to access TV channel during the 2015-2018 cycle. In Germany (ZDF) and Spain (TV3), a public broadcaster shows one…

Champions League: the broadcasters in the Top 5 European countries for the 2015-18 cycle

Champions League: Real Madrid - Shakhtar draws 6.415 million viewers in Spain and Italy

Real Madrid CF - FC Shakhtar Donetsk (4-0) on Matchday 1 of the 2015-16 Champions League group stage (group A), drew an average of 6.415 million viewers in Spain and Italy, on Tuesday 15/09/2015 at 20:45 CET. In Spain, the match attracted an average of 4.998 million viewers on the channel Antena…

Lagardère Unlimited rebrands to become Lagardère Sports and Entertainment

Lagardère Unlimited, one of the four branches of the Lagardère Group, has been renamed Lagardère Sports and Entertainment, the group announced on 15/09/2015. The sports marketing agencies of the group, including Sportfive, World Sport Group, IEC in Sports, SMAM (Sports Marketing and Management…

UEFA Youth League: Canal+ becomes exclusive broadcaster in France, Sport1 in Germany

The French pay-TV group Canal+ has acquired the exclusive broadcast rights, in France, to the UEFA Youth League, on 11/09/2015. Canal+ did not indicate the duration of the agreement with UEFA for the broadcasting of this competition, reserved for players under the age of 19. Canal+ will broadcast…

United Kingdom: BBC acquires 2015-2017 broadcast rights to the NFL, who season began on 10/09/2015

The British public broadcaster BBC acquired the broadcasting rights, in the UK, to the NFL for the 2015-2017 cycle, on 09/09/2015. The 2015-16 NFL season began on 09/10/2015 with the opening match between the 2014-15 champions New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers (New England won…

Football League: "With fibre optics, we could broadcast to screens all over the world."

The fibre optic network installed in 2014-15 in all 72 stadiums of the Sky Bet Football League for live broadcast and high definition meetings, "would allow us to stream games, subject to all the rights, overseas at the time they are being played", said Shaun Harvey, the chief executive of the…

Digital: Euro Media Group acquires Netco Sports, the second screen solutions provider

The French audiovisual technical services company EMG (Euro Media Group) has acquired Netco Sports, the French provider of second screen solutions, the two groups announced on 10/09/2015. Created in 2009, Netco Sports "has rapidly become a trusted partner for large-scale sport events and…

Euro 2016: 3.9 million watch Macedonia-Spain on the Spanish channel La 1 (25.8% audience share)

Macedonia - Spain (0-1), the Froup C qualifying match for Euro 2016, was broadcast live and exclusively in Spain by La 1, and allowed the Spanish public TV channel to attract 3.925 million viewers on average during the match, played in the Nacionalna Arena Filip II Makedonski (36,400 seats) in…

France: Thierry Cheleman succeeds Thierry Thuillier as the director of sports for the Groupe Canal+

"Thierry Cheleman has been appointed director of sports for the Groupe Canal+, he succeeds Thierry Thuillier whose assignment will be defined later," announced the French pay-TV group Canal+ on 07/09/2015. Thierry Cheleman had previously held, since August 2007, the position of director of sports…