Telecom company Silknet "has obtained the exclusive rights to broadcast Premier League football," including HD streaming of matches. SilkSportHD will broadcast five or six matches featuring Georgian play-by-play commentators each week. In addition, "short reports in the Georgian language will be aired and programs will be dedicated to discussing news and highlighting play around the league" (GEORGIA TODAY, 8/16). ... The 2013 Winter Games New Zealand are hoping to achieve unprecedented int'l TV and Internet coverage as a result of a partnership signed this week with IMG Media. IMG Media secured coverage of the event across traditional broadcast and digital platforms (Winter Games NZ). ... The battle for the Australian Football League viewer "has taken an unusual twist," with AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou "agreeing to be a regular panellist on the return of Channel Seven’s pioneering chat show, Talking Footy." Seven announced on Wednesday that "it would re-enter an already congested Monday-night market," with Talking Footy, hosted again by Bruce McAvaney, to air on Monday through the finals (THE AGE, 8/21). ... Thai pay-TV operator TrueVisions has clinched the broadcasting rights to the Thai Premier League for three years, beginning next season. TrueVisions' existing deal "was due to expire at the end of the current campaign and the company managed to secure an extension to its contract after outbidding two rivals, CTH and GMM Z" (THE NATION, 8/21).
