National sports station talkSPORT has secured the exclusive commercial radio rights for FA Cup for the first time in UK and global rights including Europe for talkSPORT International which launches next month.
It’s also the first time BBC Radio 5 live has had to share the rights with a commercial radio station.
The deal also includes Community Shield worldwide rights and selected England Games UK rights.
Additionally, talkSPORT’s new international service talkSPORT Live launches on 18 August and will offer access to FA Cup matches as well as all Premier League games with distribution via the internet, mobile apps and international broadcast partners.
The latest agreement follows the announcement in April that talkSPORT had signed an exclusive deal with the Premier League to broadcast live commentary of all Premier League matches outside the European Economic Area in multiple languages including English, Spanish and Mandarin for the next four seasons.
Scott Taunton, Chief Executive, talkSPORT said: “Today’s announcement clearly positions talkSPORT as the leading commercial sports radio station worldwide.
“The opportunity to broadcast FA Cup games internationally has been a key part of our global plans for talkSPORT Live and today’s rights announcement opens up the European market to us. We are in the process of creating a network of global radio and distribution partners for talkSPORT Live.”
The BBC is equally as pleased with the deal, as Adrian Van-Klaveren, Controller, BBC Radio 5 live says: “The agreement means we can continue to offer BBC Radio 5 live listeners the best coverage of matches and tournaments which they really care about. We’re delighted that we will continue to capture all the action and drama over the next six seasons.”
Posted on Thursday, July 26th, 2012 at 5:20 pm by RadioToday UK