Channel Nine promoted Sunday’s women’s Ashes clash to its main channel, "and big ratings could mean more Southern Stars blockbusters will follow." The decision to move the third one-day fixture on Sunday from GEM to Nine, as well as the Nov. 19 Twenty20, "will create history with it being the first time the women’s game has been shown on the home of cricket’s primary channel." Nine will reportedly "consider boosting even more matches in the month-long Ashes series from the digital channel to Nine if the numbers impress" (Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH, 10/25).
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) secured a short-term broadcast rights deal with Brazilian channel Globo TV. The free-to-air outlet will carry domestic coverage of the Brazilian national team’s upcoming friendlies against Japan and England on Nov. 10 and 14, respectively (SOCCEREX, 10/26).
FIFA announced plans to broadcast the 2018 World Cup in Ultra HD. For the first time, all 64 matches in the tournament will be "produced in Ultra High Definition with High Dynamic Range" (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 10/26).
U.S. internet users "are more likely to watch online video across a range of devices than their European counterparts," according to Ampere Analysis. The "only exception is viewing via a computer:" smart TVs (66% in the U.S. vs 61% in Europe); smartphones (61% in the U.S. vs 54% in Europe) and tablets (43% in the U.S. vs 40% in Europe) (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 10/26).
Four Swiss cable operators added UPC’s new local sports channel, MySports, to their lineup: Glattwerk, R. Geissmann, Fiberstream and AjoieNet. Glattwerk operates in Dübendorf, R. Geissmann in the Basel region, Fiberstream in Lachen and AjoieNet in the canton of Jura. Together, the four companies reach more than 20,000 homes (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 10/26).
