U.K. broadcaster BT Sport announced it will continue to broadcast highlights of season four of the Formula E Championship. Starting with the season-opening doubleheader in Hong Kong on Dec. 2 and 3, BT Sport will air an extended highlights program from every round of the championship alongside Formula E's official magazine show, "Street Racers" (Formula E).
Sport 24, the IMG-owned and operated 24-hour live sports channel for the airline and cruise line industries, will show full coverage of the upcoming Ashes Series between Australia and England. Passengers traveling internationally with Sport 24's partners will be able to watch live action from all five of the Ashes Test matches, as well as the five one day internationals and three T20 int'l tri-series matches. (IMG).
Eleven Sports launched a fourth channel in Poland. The new service, Eleven Sports 4, will be available exclusively to nc+ subscribers for the first three months. The channel will be available at no extra charge in the extended basic tier and in other premium plans (Eleven).
A strategic cooperation agreement was officially announced between Infront China, FIBA and the local organizing committee for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. The FBWC 2019 will be staged across eight Chinese cities from Aug. 31-Sept. 15 (Infront).
Canal Digital Sweden reached an agreement with MTG for the carriage of Viasat’s sports channels. Canal Digital’s customers will have access to Viasat Sport with Viasat Sport Premium, Viasat Sport, Viasat Football, Viasat Hockey and Viasat Motor during the first quarter of '18. Canal Digital will "also launch the TV3 Sport in the basic range and also offer access to Viasat Golf and esportsTV" (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 11/20).
Discovery Communications’ Eurosport Player will "play a key role" in the broadcaster’s coverage of the Olympics. Beginning with the PyeongChang 2018 Games, viewers in most of Europe "will have to subscribe to the Eurosport Player in order to watch the multi-channel streams." Until now, viewers had the "opportunity to watch these online live streams for free on the websites of public broadcasters such as the BBC and NOS of the Netherlands" (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 11/20).
Swisscom reportedly acquired the remaining 25% of shares of entertainment company Cinetrade and has "thus become its sole owner." The financial details were not disclosed. Cinetrade Founder Stephan Sager will "take on a consultative role after selling his stake." Cinetrade CEO Wilfried Heinzelmann will "remain in his position, and no changes in the management are planned" (TELECOM PAPER, 11/20).
The Int'l Ski Federation (FIS) Nordic World Ski Championships 2019 announced Stora Enso as its presenting sponsor. The agreement was negotiated by TRIDEM Sports on behalf of Infront Sports & Media. The sponsorship guarantees Stora Enso significant exposure at the championships (Infront).
ONE Championship is "diversifying its content strategy by producing a new documentary series." The series, "Rich Franklin's ONE Warrior Series" -- due for broadcast early '18 -- features martial artist Rich Franklin "as he travels from gym to gym across Asia to unearth and mentor the next martial arts superstar." Each 30-minute episode "will be screened across social media and online, as well as ONE's broadcast partners" (ASIA SPONSORSHIP NEWS, 11/17).
