Cable network wants to secure sports broadcasting rights
The members of Suissedigital, the umbrella organization for Swiss communications networks, are making a new push to secure broadcasting rights for sporting events. Their goal is to break Swisscom’s current dominant position.
The approximately 200 members of the Swiss fiber optic network industry with a combined 2.5 million customers have formed a consortium for this purpose, as Suissedigital announced on Monday. The joint approach is also supported in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, the statement said. In addition to the large providers UPC Cablecom, Quickline, net+ and Lausanne, smaller providers such as Rii-Seez-Net and GGA Maur are also involved. The sports associations' current contracts with Swisscom expire after the 2016/17 season, according to Matthias Lüscher of Suissedigital. In the last tender, the association of the industry association, then still called Swisscable, and SRG lost out to industry competitor Swisscom. However, Suissedigital no longer wants to join forces with SRG in the upcoming award. In 2012, telecom market leader Swisscom had acquired the broadcasting and marketing rights for the top two leagues of the Swiss soccer championships for at least 140 million francs. It also holds the rights for the ice hockey championship matches. This meant that Swisscom, which broadcasts the games via its Teleclub subsidiary, had significantly expanded its position in direct sports broadcasting. (SDA)
