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BT Scores ESPN’s UK & Ireland TV Business, Including Soccer Rights Portfolio

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday February 25, 2013 @ 7:15am PSTTags: BT, ESPN, Soccer

In a deal expected to close in late July, UK telecommunications provider BT will acquire ESPN‘s UK and Ireland TV channels business which primarily includes the ESPN and ESPN America channels. As part of the deal, BT, an aggressive player in the UK sports rights arena, will pick up those channels’ rights to live soccer matches from the FA Cup, the UEFA Europe League, the German Bundesliga and the Scottish Premier League. BT will continue to operate at least one ESPN-branded channel and will continue to air U.S. sports including NCAA college basketball, NCAA college football and NASCAR. Disney-owned ESPN had been seeking an exit from the ultra-competitive UK market which BT entered last year via a £738M deal ($1.1B) for 38 live Premier League soccer games annually for three years from the start of the 2013-14 season. That competition resulted in split rights with News Corp’s BSkyB and shut out ESPN. BT has acquired additional rights to high-profile rugby and tennis tournaments as well and is launching a new Sport TV package this summer. ESPN will continue to own and operate its existing digital media businesses while the non-UK ESPN America TV businesses and ESPN Classic are expected to be wound down throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. BT said the transaction is expected to complete on July 31. Financials were not disclosed.

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BT In Talks With ESPN To Acquire Additional UK-Euro Soccer Rights

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday February 17, 2013 @ 3:24pm PSTTags: BSkyB, BT, ESPN, Soccer

UK telecommunications provider BT is negotiating to buy soccer rights from ESPN as the Disney-owned channel explores an exit from the UK, the Financial Times reports. BT aims to launch as many as three sports channels offering soccer, rugby … Read More »

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Soccer Journalist Gabriele Marcotti Joins ESPN As Writer/Analyst

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday July 16, 2012 @ 11:11am PDTTags: ESPN, Soccer

Marcotti has inked a multiyear deal to create soccer content on multiple ESPN media, the sports media company announced today. He will serve as a writer/analyst for ESPN’s TV soccer coverage and write for ESPNFC online, the company’s new multi-language, multi-country brand for soccer fans. ESPN says Marcotti’s writing will range from news and insight to comment and opinion and will cover soccer leagues and competitions worldwide. In the coming weeks, the company says ESPNFC will bring together all of ESPN’s soccer properties and house them under one universally recognized name, ensuring coverage of all news and developments 24/7 of all leagues globally. Read More »

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BSkyB, BT Bid $4.7B For English Soccer

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday June 14, 2012 @ 1:03am PDTTags: BSkyB, BT, Soccer

British Sky Broadcasting Group and telecommunications company BT Group have won bidding to broadcast 154 English Premier League soccer matches for $4.7 billion — almost doubling the current deal, Bloomberg reports. BSkyB’s pay-TV Sky channel will show … Read More »

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Univision Scores Big With Mexico Match

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday June 24, 2011 @ 12:29pm PDTTags: Soccer, TV Ratings, Univision

Univision said today that its coverage of the Mexico-Honduras semifinal in soccer’s Gold Cup on Wednesday was the network’s top primetime sports telecast in history, drawing 10.9 million total viewers and beating some of the U.S. broadcast networks in key … Read More »

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UEFA Champions League Final Draws Big Ratings As Soccer’s Popularity In US Grows

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday June 2, 2011 @ 9:28am PDTTags: Fox, Soccer, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

Fans of Manchester United are probably trying to forget the drubbing their team got on Saturday at the hands of Messi & Co, but here is a fresh reminder: The ratings for … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: World Cup Up With Team U.S. Heroics, ‘Hot In Cleveland’ Down

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday June 24, 2010 @ 9:10pm PDTTags: 2010 World Cup, ABC, Cable TV, ESPN, ESPN2, Hot in Cleveland, Internet, Ratings, Soccer, Sports, TV Land, TV Ratings, U.S. World Cup Soccer Team, Video
Nellie Andreeva

ESPN’s Wednesday morning World Cup match between the U.S. and Algeria set records as the highest-rated and most-watched soccer telecast in the history of the ESPN networks, while ESPN3.com drew the largest U.S. audience for a sports event on the Web with 1.1 million unique viewers watching the match for an average of 43 minutes.

Meanwhile, the second episode of the TV Land original sitcom Hot In Cleveland averaged 3.4 million viewers, down 29% from  the record-setting heights of the show’s premiere last week. The number is still pretty solid for TV Land. Read More »

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