Media

Online UK sports network, Rivals.net has entered into a strategic partnership with children?s cable and satellite channel Nickelodeon to run a series of football promotions and content share.

After almost six months of wrangling and an eight-and-a-half hour meeting on Tuesday, Football Data Company, the commercial and licensing division of England?s Premier League and Football Leagues, moved closer to agreeing a deal with the UK?s major journalist bodies over the future practices of soccer journalists.

Premium TV, the sports rights and content internet and broadcast subsidiary wholly-owned by UK cable firm NTL, has launched Footee.net ? a soccer-based educational website.

The Brickyard 400 NASCAR race held on Sunday delivered the largest television audience in the history of the event with 20 million viewers tuning in to host broadcaster NBC?s coverage.

UK terrestrial broadcaster the BBC is to run a celebrity version of its hit quiz show `The Weakest Link? against main rival ITV?s debut of its highlights coverage of English Premiership soccer.

ESPN Today, the sports broadcaster?s dedicated interactive channel, has attracted 500,000 users since it launched last month.
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Bowman International Sports, an off-shore licence and telephone sports betting operation based in Mauritius, has signed an agreement with UK-listed online gaming developer IQ-Ludorum to deploy IQ-Ludorum's integrated gaming software.
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German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Wednesday that media group Kirch should not have changed the schedule of its German first division highlights programme.

A rematch between heavyweight boxing champion Hasim Rahman and Lennis Lewis will net Rahman $10m (?11.4m), his co-manager Steve Nelson said after confirming that the title fight would be on November 10 or November 17 in Las Vegas.

Concern that British punters would lose out because of the British Horseracing Board's proposed plan for a commercial replacement of the Levy have been dismissed by the BHB.

Broadcaster British Eurosport has secured live and exclusive rights to Scottish snooker event the Regal Masters in Glasgow next month.

The official World Internet Chess Championships have been launched by FIDE Commerce International (FCI) ? the exclusive holders of commercial rights to all FIDE world chess events.

The South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) has approved the establishment of a business arm to manage all its commercial activities locally and internationally.

EchoStar Communications Corp's $30.4billion (?34.7bn) unsolicited bid to buy the rival satellite television company Hughes Electronics Corp, including its DirecTV subsidiary, on Monday got a mixed response from Wall Street analysts, who applauded the move but largely said it would ultimately be unsuccessful.

Alternative Investment Market-listed Radio First, the UK-based media company aiming to create a national digital radio network around Premiership soccer clubs, has seen its share price jump 8p to 34.5p as excitement builds for the kick off of the new English soccer season.

UK terrestrial broadcaster Channel 5 has picked up the TV rights to the away leg of Liverpool?s Champions League qualifying match against Finnish team SC Haka on Wednesday night.