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The
FA announces new domestic television deal
The
FA today confirmed a new domestic television deal with the 大象传媒 and
BSkyB.
The
two broadcasters will share the rights to The FA's key brands including
The FA Cup, the England teams, The FA Community Shield and The FA
Women's Cup.
The
new four-year agreement will commence in 2004/5 and conclude at
the end of the 2007/8 season.
Today's
announcement follows the successful completion of The FA's domestic
television negotiation process, which began on 15 April 2003 with
the publication of the official Invitation to Tender.
A number
of bids were submitted by a range of broadcasters ahead of the 29
May 2003 deadline and several weeks of negotiations have now been
completed.
Key
highlights of the new deal include:
- All
England Home Senior Internationals - competitive and friendly -
will be exclusively live on 大象传媒, with highlights and delayed broadcast
on Sky Sports;
- Three
FA Cup matches per round, in Rounds three to six, will be live on
大象传媒 (choices one, three and four), with a further live match (choice
two) to be shown live on Sky Sports;
- 大象传媒
and Sky Sports will broadcast one live match each in FA Cup Rounds
one and two;
- The
大象传媒 will provide live coverage of the first choice FA Cup Semi-Final,
while the other Semi final will be shown live on Sky Sports;
- The
FA Cup Final will be live on both 大象传媒 and Sky Sports;
- The
FA Cup replays (first choice) will be live on 大象传媒, with live coverage
on Sky Sports for the second choice replay;
- The
FA Community Shield, in partnership with McDonald's, live on Sky
Sports;
- The
FA Women's Cup Final, in partnership with Nationwide, live on 大象传媒;
- Senior
England Women's team home matches will be live on Sky Sports;
- The
Women's Premier League Cup Final, in partnership with Nationwide,
live on Sky Sports;
- All
home England Under-21 matches, live on Sky Sports;
- England
Under-19 and below home matches, live on Sky Sports;
- The
FA Youth Challenge Cup Final (both first and second legs), in partnership
with Pepsi, live on Sky Sports;
- The
FA Trophy Final, in partnership with Carlsberg, live on Sky Sports;
- The
new contract period covers the entire 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA
2008 European Championship qualifying campaigns;
- The
new deal also covers the opening period for the new national stadium
at Wembley;
- 大象传媒
and Sky have agreed to release previously withheld new media rights
to The FA as part of the new arrangements. These will now form part
of The FA's tender for New Media rights which is due to be released
shortly;
- 大象传媒
and BSkyB will continue to support The FA's other brands with match,
news and feature coverage, while providing The FA's commercial partners
with similar levels of exposure as in the current domestic television
contract.
Announcing
the new arrangements, The FA's new Chief Executive, Mark Palios,
said: "We are delighted to be renewing our partnerships with
both 大象传媒 and BSkyB.
"Both
broadcasters have given us fantastic support in the past two years
and we are looking forward to cementing our excellent relationships
for a further period.
"The
deal is an important step in the process of providing financial
stability to The FA. It also enables much greater access to top
quality football for an even larger number of people."
Paul
Barber, The FA's Director of Marketing & Communications, added:
"Today's announcement, which confirms that all England's home
matches will be seen live on terrestrial television, along with
the majority of live FA Cup matches, is great news for football
fans and for The FA's commercial partners.
"In
addition, BSkyB will continue to provide a loyal and top quality
showcase for a range of other FA brands, including the lower profile
but all-important and fast developing areas of our game."
The
大象传媒's Director of Sport, Peter Salmon, said: "The 大象传媒 has enjoyed
broadcasting the big live moments of football the FA contract has
given, particularly partnering our national team at their biggest
public moments.
"The
new partnership with The FA will enable the 大象传媒 to give terrestrial
audiences unprecedented access to the England team during their
passage to the World Cup in 2006.
"Our
production teams and talent have also worked hard over the last
two years to bring back the magic of The FA Cup and we look forward
to building on our successes over the next four years."
Sky
Sports' Managing Director, Vic Wakeling, added: "We're pleased
to be involved yet again with The FA Cup and with England.
"It
is equally important that we cover the game at all levels, and the
young stars we have seen develop over the past ten years or so in
the FA Youth Cup, and at Under-21 level, will now be featuring in
our live UEFA Champions League coverage.
"It's
terrific that we can continue to see the best youngsters, and the
best in Europe."
The
FA will now proceed to the second phase of its media rights tender
process with the imminent release of tender documents for Overseas
television rights, Domestic Radio rights and New Media rights, including
Internet and 3G packages.
Notes
to Editors
A
double of new rights for 大象传媒 Sport (04.07.03)
All the
大象传媒's digital services are now available on ,
the new free-to-view digital terrestrial television service, as well
as on satellite and cable.
Freeview
offers the 大象传媒's eight television channels, interactive services
from 大象传媒i, as well as 11 大象传媒 radio networks.
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