Media

Australia?s Queensland state government will increase poker machine tax by as much as 20 per cent to fund its $280 million (US$145m) plan to upgrade Lang Park football ground.

NTL, the UK?s largest cable telecoms company which boasts 8.5m subscribers and has a 10 percent stake in English Premiership soccer clubs Newcastle United, Leicester City and Aston Villa, said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose by about 32 percent to $124m for the three months to March 31 compared with the previous quarter.

Arena Leisure, one of the three companies behind the Go Racing consortium, said today that pre-tax losses for the nine months to December 31 widened to #6.2m ($8.9m) from #2.96m ($4.24m). It also reported an increase in losses per share to 2.29p from 1.21p. But confirmation that it is to become a 33.33 percent shareholder in Go Racing saw its share price rise by nearly 10 percent to 104p.

Sportscity, the Singaporean dedicated sports channel, is to be shut down, becoming the first high-profile victim of the deregulation of the national broadcasting market.

FA chief executive Adam Crozier?s position has come under pressure over the weekend as the fallout from the Wembley stadium fiasco continues to spread.

Arena Leisure said it expects its shares to start trading again on May 8, when it will also issue a detailed statement, following the news that the Go Racing consortium it is heavily involved in with BSkyB and Channel 4 has won the media rights to horse racing at racecourses that account for more than 70% of off-track betting revenues in the UK.

Spanish cycling bosses Manolo Sainz and Eusebio Unzue have bitterly criticised Tour de France organisers.

Racecourse and media group Arena Leisure Plc said today its Go Racing consortium had signed sufficient UK racecourses to advance with its plans to control TV rights for horse racing in Britain.

EchoStar Communications has refused to rule out a merger between itself and Hughes Electronics-owned satellite broadcaster DirecTV, despite the latter reaching advanced discussions with Rupert Murdoch?s News Corporation for a similar tie-up.

Alabama businessman Donald Watkins is interested in buying the Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball franchise, recently valued by Forbes Magazine at approximately $150m.

A Senate commerce committee has failed by one vote to derail a bill banning betting on US college sports, which is legal only in Nevada.

MTG, the Scandinavian media company, has bought 17% of the share capital of Stockholm-based soccer club Djurgaarden, worth SKr7m ($781,000), according to news sources.

London soccer clubs Wimbledon and Queens Park Rangers have discussed a possible merger, Wimbledon chairman Charles Koppel said on Thursday.

Virage, the video streaming applications provider, has unveiled new technology that enables video to be searched, retrieved and streamed in real-time on handheld PDA's.

Liverpool soccer club is to launch the first club-owned broadcasting service over a broadband internet network tomorrow, as part of its alliance with media group Granada.

The British Horseracing Board (BHB) yesterday said it was dissatisfied with negotiations currently going on between the Go-Racing consortium and the country?s 59 racecourses about gaining media rights to broadcast horseracing matches for the next 10 years.