Co-Operation For Sports Coverage

The ITV companies are considering co-operating with cable television groups to acquire the rights to televise big sporting events. Nigel Walmsley, chief executive of Carlton plans to meet leading operators later this month. The talks indicate that the cable industry is being taken more seriously, and follow the acquisition by a cable consortium of the rights to broadcast the Cricket World Cup in 1996.

The Rugby Football Union is expected to announce later this month who will be awarded the rights to televise the Five Nations Championship. It is expected that the licence, worth £20m over three years, will be awarded to either BBC or ITV, with Sky’s initial hopes of exclusive coverage unlikely.

ABC TO TAKE STAKE IN UNIQUE

ABC, the US company, is to take a significant minority stake in Unique Broadcasting, of around 20%.

Unique, in which Capital Radio has a 24% stake, produces programmes such as the Pepsi Network Chart Show for commercial radio, Rock Line for Radio 1 and interval talks for Radio 3.

In the US ABC is developing radio services delivered by satellite to local stations all over America. It is likely that ABC may be planning something similar in partnership with Unique, and according to a report in the Financial Times, creating an FT radio service for distribution to UK commercial radio stations.