By David Gold
April 23 – Spanish commercial broadcaster Telecinco, owned by Italian media giant Mediaset, is primed to win broadcast rights for UEFA Euro 2012, being held in Ukraine and Poland, according to reports there.
The deal is just shy of €75 million (£66 million/$109 million), in line with what Sogecable paid for the rights to Euro 2008.
Telecinco are understood to be paying an extra €2 million (£1.7 million/$2.9 million) for the Under-21 European 2011 Championships, being held in Denmark this June.
TVE rivalled Telecinco for the broadcast rights but withdrew in part due to its recent purchase of rights to show Champions League football until 2015.
Telecinco could sub-license some of its rights to Digital Plus, a pay-television operator in which it possesses a stake.
“This event is likely to help the audience share of Telecinco and Cuatro during the tournament, but these large sporting events are rarely profitable, and therefore, if anything, we believe it could put downwards pressure on 2012 forecasts,” said analysts at Citi Bank.
Mediaset, the company who own Telecinco, was founded by Silvio Berlusconi in 1978 and his family still have a significant stake in the corporation.
The deal means that only two of the main five markets in Europe have agreed a deal with UEFA for broadcast rights of the 2012 tournament, following the agreement with German state broadcasters ARD and ZDF.
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