Satellite Sports Channels To Merge

The Eurosport Consortium and Screensport affiliate, TESN, have decided to pool their resources and provide one sports channel (Eurosport/The European Sports Network) under the Eurosport name. The partnership is due to take effect within the next few weeks and will be available throughout Europe on Astra and Eutelsat II. According to ETN figures the new channel will be received by almost 40 million households and aims to provide cable operators and advertisers wishing to invest in pan-European advertising with a wide range of international sports programming.

Both channels have suffered losses financially over the past couple of years and it is hoped that the move will be mutually beneficial in that respect. It is thought that at least 120 jobs will be cut as a direct result of the merger.