Int'l Handball Federation President Hassan Moustafa "has criticized German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF for failing to reach an agreement to air the men's world championship, which is currently taking place in Qatar," according to Timo Niemeier of DWDL. Moustafa: "ARD and ZDF submitted a low-ball offer that was even lower than the one for the 2011 world championship. Rights holder beIN Sports simply stopped negotiating. That's completely legitimate." The public broadcaster "quickly denied the accusations." ZDF Sports Dir Dieter Gruschwitz said that Moustafa "called ARD and ZDF's offer 'alright' during the negotiations." Gruschwitz added, "The statement of Mr. Moustafa is outrageous." ARD also showed its surprise regarding Moustafa's comment. ARD Sport Coordinator Axel Balkausky said that there were never any negotiations about the submitted offer. Balkausky: "Therefore rights holder beIN Sports never talked to us about the financial aspect." As a result the tournament "exclusively airs on pay-TV network Sky Deutschland," which secured the rights at the end of December (DWDL, 1/21).
UPWARD TREND: QUOTENMETER's Manuel Nunez Sanchez reported Sky Deutschland "recorded a destinctively higher audience for its broadcast of Germany's third group stage game at the world championship on Tuesday." The game between Germany and Denmark attracted an average audience of 370,000 viewers starting of 7:15pm. The number translated into a market share of 1.3%. In the target demographic 14-49, the 30-30 tie obtained a market share of 1.3% as an average of 120,000 viewers tuned in (QUOTENMETER, 1/21).
