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| BBC loses exclusive Masters rights Sky Sports ends corporation's 24 years of exclusive rights and will share TV coverage of tournament from next yearThe BBC has lost exclusive live TV rights to the Masters golf tournament after 24 years and will be sharing coverage with Sky Sports from next year.BSkyB's sports channels will broadcast exclusive live TV coverage of the opening two rounds of the tournament, one of golf's landmark events, from 2011.The BBC will share coverage of the final two rounds, played on Saturday 9 April and Sunday 10 April next year, with the pay-TV broadcaster, which plans to show the first golf major tournament of the calendar year in 3D. The BBC retains UK radio and online rights.Today's deal with the Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the Masters tournament, is a coup for Sky, which already screens hundreds of hours of golf, including the biennial Ryder Cup between the US and Europe.Sky Sports will launch its 3D channel on 1 October with coverage of the Ryder Cup.The BBC has held the exclusive UK TV rights to Masters since 1986 and the event is one of the highlights of its sporting coverage. The BBC's last three-year content deal with Augusta expired in April this year.Barbara Slater, the BBC's director of sport, who led the corporation's attempt to hold on to exclusive TV rights, put a brave face on Sky's successful bid. It had been expected the BBC could lose TV coverage of the tournament completely."The BBC is very proud we have broadcast the Masters every year since 1986 and we are delighted that this new deal enables us to continue this relationship," Slater said."It means terrestrial audiences can continue to enjoy live coverage of the concluding rounds of this hugely prestigious tournament on BBC TV, alongside our comprehensive coverage on radio and online."Senior BBC insiders warned last week it could be forced to withdraw from the bidding for some sporting events after the BBC Trust said it would freeze the licence fee for up to two years.The decision to forgo a planned 2% rise in 2011 will leave executives with £144m less to spend than they had budgeted for.Despite Sky's success in the sporting arena the BBC has kept hold of much of its coverage since the satellite company's inception, including Premier League highlights for Match of the Day and exclusive live TV rights to the Six Nations rugby union tournament, Wimbledon, the Olympics, the Commonwealth games, and major golf tournaments including the British Open and the US Open.Sky pulled off a coup when it won the rights to the Ryder Cup at the start of the decade, however, and the BBC also lost the rights to screen live TV coverage of the England cricket team's home Test matches to Channel 4 in 1999. Sky subsequently took over those cricket rights from Channel 4 in 2006.The Sky Sports managing director, Barney Francis, said: "Sky Sports is now the only place to see all four days of the Masters, live."Sky Sports has enjoyed a great partnership with golf for nearly two decades. We follow a hundred different tournaments each year, from five different continents, and are excited that the Masters is now at the heart of this calendar."• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".Sports rightsBBCBSkyBTelevision industryThe MastersGolfJames Robinsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Vick accounts for 4 TDs as Eagles rout Jags 28-3 By MARK LONG 2010-09-26T23:33:39ZJACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Michael Vick made Andy Reid's quarterback decision look like the right one.... hosted.ap.org |
Hanagan on course for jockeys' title • Hanagan cheers favourite-backers with Tepmokea win• Richard Hughes wins last race at WolverhamptonPaul Hanagan had the York crowd on their feet as he pulled off a late finish on the well-backed Tepmokea in the final race of the afternoon to give his jockeys' title bid a major boost.But Hanagan's nearest rival, Richard Hughes, who failed to overturn a six-day riding ban on Thursday, struck back with a victory in the final contest at Wolverhampton's night meeting. On the day it was a 1-1 draw between the championship battlers – with Hughes still eight winners adrift of HanaganTepmokea, who was backed into 100-30 favourite, looked beaten well inside the final furlong when Pertemps Network took the lead but the title-race leader battled back on his mount to win by the narrowest of margins.Hughes had drawn a blank from five fancied rides on Ascot's afternoon card, but in the finale at Wolverhampton he produced the 9-2 shot New Code with a late flourish to win by a neck.Ireland's John Grogan pulled off an unlikely success when he won the feature race at York with Katla, the only horse he has in his care. The trainer bred the Majestic Missile filly and still owns her, and was in ecstatic mood after his filly's victory in the Rockingham Stakes."I just can't believe it, I lost my phone jumping up and down," said Grogan of the 5-1 winner. "I drove the horsebox here and we came over on the ferry. We set off at 5am yesterday and got here at 4pm. I'm a farmer based at Cashel, near where Aidan O'Brien trains, but this is just unreal."Mark Johnston has not enjoyed that many winners on the Knavesmire this season but he was in double form with Namibian (8-1) and Act Of Kalanisi (9-1). The latter now has the Cesarewitch Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday as his next target.Charles O'Brien feels Bewitched could be capable of developing into a quality sprinter in 2011 after the three-year-old's powerful finish won her the Bengough Stakes at Ascot."That's her fourth stakes race this year," O'Brien said. "She had a penalty for her win at the Curragh last time and against older horses she has done very well. I would think that will be it for the season but she wouldn't have to find a lot of improvement on that form to make a Group One filly."Paul HanaganHorse racingTony Paleyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Stricter rules on ref interaction could mean technical difficulty The message from the NBA to its players is clear: Adapt to new guidelines limiting complaints to referees or suffer the consequences more technical ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
NFL players adjust to crackdown on illegal hits By EDDIE PELLS and HOWARD FENDRICH 2010-10-25T08:17:29ZDolphins cornerback Sean Smith had Steelers receiver Hines Ward lined up, ready to deliver the big hit. Instead of going high, he went for Ward's legs. No fine or penalty for that one.... hosted.ap.org |