is this deal gonna have any effect on FSW coverage here? http://www.foxsportsworld.com/content/view?contentId=1958066 does it mean other channels may pick up games, or will Rupert be vindictive and stop showing them on FSW?
Probably not. NewsCorp and Canal Plus share exclusive worldwide EPL rights. They'll renew probably without competition. All it means is that ITV will probably open up the checkbook and televise 8 of the biggest EPL games of the year, just as the BBC televises some of the biggest SPL games each year, including all 4 Old Firm games.
So is ESPN in Asia somehow affiliated with NewsCorp? I know ESPN is a Disney company, but I didn't realize that there was a connection. I ask this because EPL matches here in Taiwan are broadcast on ESPN!
The deal will have no impact on FSW's ability to broadcast the Premiership - the 8 matches that go to ITV or the Beeb (let's face it Channel 4 and 5 have the merger to worry about right now) are likely to be the "3rd pick" type of matches - that was the package the Beeb almost originally picked up - they will almost certainly not be high profile games Per your question on ESPN in Asia - ESPN in Asia (unless things have changed in the past few weeks) is a joint venture between ESPN and STAR sports (which has NewsCorp as its parent) in fact Murdoch's son, James, used to run STAR before he became the head of SKY in the UK last month The international broadcast rights are not affected by this deal - I'm not sure the EU competition committee would have any jurisdiction in their administration anyway
Thanks, that actually does make sense as they run a website jointly together. www.espnstar.com I kind of knew that Star was a Murdock operation, it just didn't register until your post. Thanks.