BB FANS

ITV 'wins right to air FA matches'


ITV and Setanta Sports have won the rights to broadcast the FA Cup and England's home international football matches, according to reports.

The Financial Times said the Football Association (FA) will announce that the BBC and BSkyB, which have owned the rights for the past seven years, have been outbid by the other two broadcasters.

According to the FT, ITV and Setanta offered more than £400 million for the television rights for four years from August 2008.

It is believed the lower-than-hoped-for licence fee settlement has capped the amount the BBC can bid for sports rights.

Winning the rights would be a coup for ITV executive chairman Michael Grade, who left his role as BBC chairman to join ITV.

The move will bolster ITV's football coverage, which is currently focused on Champions League matches.

It will also add to Irish-based satellite broadcaster Setanta's growing sporting portfolio, following its acquisition of rights to 46 live Premiership games from next season.

The BBC is likely to be left without any live football to show on its channels and the move will weaken the market leader Sky's dominant position. dailystar

ITV and Setanta poised to win joint deal for England rights



ITV and Setanta were last night on the verge of pulling off an audacious raid for the broadcast rights to England's home internationals and live FA Cup ties after outbidding the BBC and BSkyB. An announcement is likely today confirming that the Football Association has met its target of boosting income from the four-year contract to more than £400m by awarding the rights to ITV and Setanta, the Irish pay-TV broadcaster. The final sum is expected to top £420m.

The FA chief executive, Brian Barwick, who was formerly at ITV Sport, had been under pressure to deliver a substantial increase on the last deal. The current four-year contract is shared between the BBC and Sky, with the corporation showing live England matches and the majority of FA Cup ties. It brought in £300m, a drop of £40m a season on the previous deal.

Barring a last-minute hitch or counter-bid, ITV is expected to show England's competitive home matches live from next year and share Cup coverage with Setanta but take the pick of the best matches.

ITV's bid was sanctioned by its executive chairman, Michael Grade, but the decision is a big gamble, and not only because of the national team's poor form. Previous big-money flirtations with rights, such as the ill-fated ITV Digital deal and an early-evening Premiership highlights show, backfired but its Champions League coverage, shared with Sky, has been a hit.

The BBC's director-general, Mark Thompson, and Sky Sports chief, Vic Wakeling, made a final attempt to woo the FA with a joint presentation on Monday. FA insiders have previously acknowledged the part played by the corporation in reviving interest in the FA Cup. The BBC is expected to argue that bidding reached unjustifiable levels.

For the FA, fiscal concerns took priority. It had divided the rights into 15 batches to encourage competitive bidding and, although ITV and Setanta bid separately, that is thought to have helped them find a complementary structure.

It is understood the ITV team did a good job of assuaging the FA's concerns about possible damage to the Cup's reach and brand. One insider also speculated that the dressing-room-banter style of Gary Lineker and Alan Hansen had its critics at the FA, although this is not thought to have been a major factor. guardian

10am - update

ITV to pay £275m for FA Cup


Friday March 30, 2007

ITV is to pay £275m to show FA Cup and England home international games, the lion's share of a £425m joint raid with Irish broadcaster Setanta.

Snatching the rights from the BBC and BSkyB represents an audacious coup by ITV executive chairman Michael Grade - but it is also an expensive gamble.

Setanta's £150m investment is its latest attempt to take on Sky, having secured a third of live Premiership games from this autumn for its pay-TV service.

The four-year deal, which kicks in from next year, gives ITV England's competitive home games, friendly away fixtures and first pick for FA Cup games.

Setanta will show England home friendlies, under-21 internationals, the Community Shield and FA Trophy.

It will also screen 17 out of the 31 FA Cup games televised each year, with ITV showing the rest. The two broadcasters will show a semi-final each and share the FA Cup final.

The deal, which will be formally unveiled by FA chief Brian Barwick later today, far exceeds the current £300m package shared by the BBC and Sky.

ITV will be hoping to bury memories of its ill-fated foray into Premiership highlights between 2001 and 2004, which was criticised for poor scheduling.

The deal is ITV's first major sports rights acquisition since Mr Grade, a keen sports fan, became ITV's chairman in January.

ITV is believed to have sealed the deal on Monday when Mr Grade made his final offer and asked for the deal to be locked down.

No more rival offers were to be accepted after that point, according to senior sources familiar with the negotiations. guardian