Rumor: Tiansheng Bids to Keep English Premier League Rights
National Business Daily, 12/10/09
Tiansheng Media, winner of the last round of bidding for rebroadcast rights to English Premier League football matches on the Chinese mainland, has entered the latest round of bidding to renew the rights. Tiansheng Media CEO Song Zheng said, however, that "all participants in the bidding signed a non-disclosure agreement, so I am not at liberty to discuss the matter."
According to sources within Tiansheng, this round of bidding began in November. However, because of price issues and other concerns, the rebroadcast rights have yet to be finalized, despite two rounds of bids. The bidding has entered a third round, and is expected to yield results by around January 1. Industry sources say that if Tiansheng is successful in acquiring rebroadcast rights this time, it may not continue its current all-premium broadcast model, but will quite possibly adopt a mixed paid and free broadcast model for this season.
Keywords: broadcasting rights Song Zheng football television bidding English Premier League Tiansheng Media Internet wireless