Media

Sportsworld media, the sports marketing and television production company, has increased its foothold in Melbourne, Australia after reaching an agreement with the Australian Football League and Melbourne?s Eastern Football League to produce a television programme called The Champions.

Goal celebration antics cost Malaysia's self-styled soccer 'Superman' 2,000 ringgit ($526) after a sponsor complained his display hid its company logo during a TV broadcast.

The XFL dream has died after World Wrestling Federation Entertainment said it was pulling the plug on the competition ? just four months after the first game was broadcast.

UK terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4 has continued its move towards mainstream sports by signing a TV and internet video rights deal for the Le Mans 24-hour motor race.

Enic, the leisure and media company, which has stakes in a string of European soccer clubs, is planning to sell its retail and restaurant unit to concentrate on its sports interests.

Pay-TV and terrestrial broadcasters will soon be battling it out to win the rights show live matches and highlights of Scottish soccer Premier League matches after current contracts run out at the end of next season.

Chrysalis, the media company which produces ITV?s Formula One coverage and is the financier behind UK-based sports website Rivals.net, reported a pre-tax loss of #5.6m ($8m)for the six months to February 28 compared with a profit of #100,000 ($142,000) for the equivalent period last year.

Cable operators NTL and Telewest are to work more closely together with the aim to compete more effectively with Europe?s second-largest pay-TV broadcaster BSkyB.

Kirch, Germany?s second-biggest media company, has agreed to sell some broadcast rights for the 2002 and 2006 soccer World Cups to Germany?s two state-owned channels ARD and ZDF for a reported $115 million.

The head of the Australian Rugby Union has rejected claims by his English counterpart that the British Lions were not getting a big enough slice of revenue from their upcoming tour of Australia.

Television ratings for women's tennis are continuing an upward trend, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has said.

Finnish ice hockey officials have agreed to host the 2003 world ice hockey championship, swapping the 2004 tournament with the Czech Republic who need more time to finish their facilities.

Eurosport has launched its 18th language version specifically for Greek-speaking viewers.

US pay-per-view cable television network iN DEMAND and Major League Baseball have signed a three-year agreement, allowing the distribution of ?MLB Extra Innings? on digital cable this summer through until 2003.

Hasim Rahman could make a surprise first defence of his world title against former champion Lennox Lewis on HBO rather than fight Mike Tyson on Showtime as most media experts had predicted.

The UK government has accepted terms offered by British Sky Broadcasting Plc (BSkyB), which will allow the British satellite TV group to take over the Open interactive TV platform it operates.