Media

Millions of soccer crazy Vietnamese missed the start of the English Premier League season at the weekend after Vietnam Television (VTV) failed to reach an agreement with the company holding distribution rights for Asia.

US restaurant chain Cracker Barrel is suing NASCAR and host broadcaster Fox over a lack of coverage for the firm’s title sponsorship of the Atlanta race held in March.

The British Tourist Authority (BTA) has signed a two-year partnership deal with soccer’s English FA Premier League and its new sponsor Barclaycard, designed to promote Britain as a top tourist destination and boost visitor numbers.

England’s Football Association has not denied media reports that the number of sponsors of the governing body will be reduced to four from ten after the World Cup next year.

Columbian television channels and programmers have unanimously rejected attempts by the country’s top-flight soccer league to charge fees for the media use of goal images.

Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will face Denmark's Brian Nielsen in a 10-round fight on September 8 at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, cable television carrier Showtime has said.

Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch has been in a Barcelona clinic for the last two weeks, according to the Spanish media, as fears mount over his health.

South African terrestrial channel e.tv has secured the exclusive TV rights to the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

Walt Disney-owned sports broadcaster ESPN has announced that it still expects its Asian subsidiary, ESPN Star Sports, to reach profitability within the next three years despite recording a financial downturn in its latest results.

At least four English Premiership soccer clubs will have launched dedicated digital radio stations on the Sky satellite television platform within the next few weeks.

Sportech, the UK-based holding company for gaming giant Littlewoods Leisure, has signed a sponsorship deal with ITV’s interactive soccer coverage for an undisclosed sum.

UK commercial broadcaster ITV has hit back at claims its new English soccer Premier League highlights show was a flop – despite losing out in the ratings to rival BBC1’s Weakest Link show on its debut outing on Saturday night.

Host broadcaster CBS’ coverage of the US PGA Championships recorded disappointing ratings, dropping nearly 40 percent on the previous year due principally to Tiger Woods’ inability to trouble the leaderboard.

Media group Kirch has given into increasing protests and agreed to change its scheduling of the soccer highlights programme to the German Bundesliga after ratings for the show dropped remarkably in its newly allotted later time slot.

Scottish Premier League soccer champions Celtic has struck a deal with online broadcasting specialist Servecast

UK satellite channel SKY Sports has been awarded live rights to the US Open, the world's richest grand slam tennis event, for the next four years.