Australia: Al Jazeera Sport in talks to acquire the TV channel Setanta Sports Australia

Qatar's broadcasting group Al-Jazeera is currently negotiating with pay-TV sports provider Setanta for the acquisition of their Australian channel, according to the Australian press, on the 12/12/2013.

Setanta Sports Australia would be renamed beIN Sport by Al Jazeera Sport from the beginning of 2014, according to the Australian specialised site Mumbrella.com.au. The Qatari group would partner with the media and marketing rights agency MP & Silva to launch beIN Sport into the Australian market, as they already did in Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong since August 2013.

Speculation on the launch of beIN Sport into the Australian market started when pay-TV channel Fox Sport declined to acquire the rights to the Italian Serie A for the Australian market, on the 22/10/2013. Those rights, sold by MP & Silva, were granted by the agency to Al Jazeera, although the group was not present in Australia.

• In Australia, a law has established since 2006 the list of sporting events that must be broadcast for free, and by the broadcaster's main channel (not on an auxiliary channel).
• For…