TV sports rights setback for Sogecable
July 13, 2008
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Sogecable’s attempt to increase the value of its pay-TV unit Digital Plus for its eventual sale is being hindered by Sogecable’s attempt to increase the value of its pay-TV unit Digital Plus for its eventual sale is being hindered by its competitors in the Spanish TV market. The company has suffered a new setback by losing the pay-TV rights to the European Champions League from 2009, to Mediapro, main shareholder in the commercial TV channel La Sexta.
Mediapro will broadcast 14 Euro matches each Champions League day, including two played by Spanish teams, via a new pay TV channel on DTT it’s preparing for the next season. To win the contract until 2012, Mediapro would have paid well above the E50 million a season Sogecable has been paying for Spanish pay TV rights.
For over a year, Sogecable and Mediapro have fought a bitter battle for Spanish soccer league rights, with Mediapro making a full-frontal assault on TV sports rights, now holding the rights to 38 out of 42 soccer teams of the Spanish Soccer League starting from the season 2009-2010.