By David Gold
June 6 – Russia’s public broadcaster VGTRK has reportedly made a $110 million (£71 million/€88 million) bid to show Russian Premier League football for the next three years.
VGTRK had made a significantly larger bid for six years of Russian Premier League television coverage, but that was rejected.
The new bid would trump a $100 million (£65 million/€80 million) offer from NTV Plus – the holder of the rights since 2007 – according to RIA Novosti.
If successful, VGTRK would give Russian viewers the chance to watch live football on terrestrial television for the first time since 2007.
VGTRK editor-in-chief Dmitry Mednikov said: “Due to the fact that it [the agreement] is applied not for six years, but for three years, we are making a new proposal.”
NTV Plus is owned by Gazprom, and their last deal covered the length of the 18-month transitional league season which has just concluded.
The season was lengthened to help Russia make the transition to an autumn to spring calendar, rather than the other way round as it was previously.
Whichever broadcaster wins the auction, it will mark a significant increase in the annual income from television revenues, which just over a year ago stood at closer to $53 million (£34 million/€42 million).
VGTRK claim to reach 98.5 per cent of the Russian population.
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