Sky, Deutsche Telekom Agree On Distribution Deal Including Bundesliga Coverage

German pay-TV channel Sky and telecom company Deutsche Telekom "have reached an agreement that will allow Telekom customers to continue to watch Bundesliga football in '13-14," according to the FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU. Sky Deutschland, which will be the sole TV rights holder of the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga from the '13-14 season on, "has reached an agreement with Telekom that will allow the Bonn-based company to offer Sky's Bundesliga coverage as well as other Sky programming through its Entertain packages." Deutsche Telekom, which has about 2 million TV subscribers, was the last big TV provider in Germany that "did not offer Sky to its customers." The new contract runs through the end of the '16-17 season (FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU, 1/4). ADVANCED TELEVISION's Chris Forrester reported the "cooperation agreement" signed between the two "will kick in later this summer and covers Sky's Bundesliga football coverage as well as games from the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, golf and tennis fixtures." The four-year deal also covers Sky's core channels and movie services. The news "is extremely positive for News Corp.-backed Sky Deutschland and helped propel its stock price up another €0.20 ($0.26) in early trading on Friday to €4.45 ($5.87), but this means an overall gain over the past 30 days of €0.50 ($0.66)" (ADVANCED TELEVISION, 1/4).