Media

THE News Corporation Ltd has cemented its position as the nation's biggest listed company after unveiling a $25 billion-plus spin-off of its American motion picture, television and sports divisions.

A record-breaking 26 million people in Britain watched England crash out of the World Cup in a penalty shoot-out against Argentina, broadcasters said on Wednesday.

Men?s tennis is to undergo a commercial revolution from 2000. The ATP has partnered with ISL and Octagon to develop television and sponsorship on the back of a re-structured, heavily branded sport.

ESPN International has signed a multi-year programming agreement with Sydney-based Optus to provide a 24 hour international sports channel called ESPN Australia.

The recently formed Sports and Outdoor Media International Plc will be valued at #23.4m when it floats on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London.

AC Milan, the soccer club controlled by Italian media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, should be listed on the bourse by 2000, the club's vice president Adriano Galliani has announced.

Predominantly Moslem Malaysia, bowing to pressures from Moslem-led groups, has dropped Danish brewery Carlsberg as a major sponsor of the Commonwealth Games starting in Kuala Lumpur in September.

If FIFA and its marketing partner ISL are right, FIFA's double-globe football symbol will soon become one of the best known commercial logos in the world.

Use of FIFA's logo is to be devleoped accoridng to the Federation's marketing partner ISL.

A new study into the potential impact of the $A5 billion Docklands development in Melbourne, which includes a major new stadium project, concludes that the city's Central Business District propertymarket could be squeezed.

British Sky broadcasting, the News Corp-owned UK pay TV company, will be free to broadcast one of its sports channels on spare digital bandwidth allocated to Channel 5.

Sports equipment group Adidas said it had benefited from the 1998 soccer World Cup but added that in future only official sponsors should have international commercial rights.

German insurer Albingia will provide insurance cover totalling 2.5 billion marks ($1.4 billion) for the next soccer World Cup in Japan and South Korea in 2002, Welt am Sonntag newspaper said on Sunday.

The Seven Network is launching its new "virtual signage" technology during the telecast on 11 July, 1998, of the Bledisloe Cup rugby union broadcast.

Organisers of the Sydney Olympic Games have created their own broadcast organisation, The Sydney Olympic Broadcast Organisation (SOBO).

Asia basketball fans have been given a boost with the news that ESPN Star Sports will air 77 National Basketball Association (NBA) live games each season for the next four years from this November.