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Orange has struck a new sublicensing agreement with rival Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica for domestic broadcast rights to the 2020/21 La Liga and Uefa Champions League soccer competitions.
The deal is a continuation of a similar agreement signed between the two firms ahead of the ongoing 2019/20 campaign, and sees Orange once again part ways with €300 million (US$336.6 million) for a combination of elite European and Spanish soccer rights.
While Orange has renewed its deal, Spanish commercial broadcaster Mediaset España and its over-the-top (OTT) service, Mitele Plus, will no longer show matches from either competition after the network chose not to extend its contract with Telefónica for next season.
The new arrangement therefore means Orange becomes the only alternative operator to distribute Telefónica’s La Liga and Champions League content from September, while subscribers to the telco’s Jazztel communications network will also be able to watch matches via Orange TV.
The deal also includes Telefónica’s coverage of La Liga Segunda and the Uefa Europa League, Spain’s and Europe’s respective second-tier club competitions. Meanwhile, Orange will broadcast every La Liga top-flight game featuring FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in 4K resolution.
Telefónica’s La Liga deal, which it signed with Spanish rights agency Mediapro, runs to the end of the 2021/22 campaign. It includes a mandate stating that the company must share 50 per cent of its premium content with other telcos and streaming services in Spain.
Following the decree, which was implemented after Telefónica’s merger with the Spanish arm of French pay-TV broadcaster Canal+ in 2015, the telco also airs matches across its Movistar+ channels.
Meanwhile, La Liga has become the first league to trial a new platform launched by Mediapro, which allows content owners to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to the creation of soccer highlights. The AIProclips technology was built in collaboration with US-based technology giant IBM and has been used across hundreds of games this season.
María Carmen Fernández, Mediapro’s head of innovation and new business, said: “Artificial intelligence offers us immense opportunity to optimise production processes, but it also opens the door for the development of a huge number of new products aimed at responding to the needs of the hyper segmentation of audiences and the design of customised solutions.
“At Mediapro, we are committed to innovation and we are sure of the need to continue incorporating new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and algorithmic development, combining these with the talent and wealth of experience of our experts to continue responding to an increasingly demanding market in terms of personalisation and interactivity with content.”
Orange has struck a new sublicensing agreement with rival Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica for domestic broadcast rights to the 2020/21 La Liga and Uefa Champions League soccer competitions.
The deal is a continuation of a similar agreement signed between the two firms ahead of the ongoing 2019/20 campaign, and sees Orange once again part ways with €300 million (US$336.6 million) for a combination of elite European and Spanish soccer rights.
While Orange has renewed its deal, Spanish commercial broadcaster Mediaset España and its over-the-top (OTT) service, Mitele Plus, will no longer show matches from either competition after the network chose not to extend its contract with Telefónica for next season.
The new arrangement therefore means Orange becomes the only alternative operator to distribute Telefónica’s La Liga and Champions League content from September, while subscribers to the telco’s Jazztel communications network will also be able to watch matches via Orange TV.
The deal also includes Telefónica’s coverage of La Liga Segunda and the Uefa Europa League, Spain’s and Europe’s respective second-tier club competitions. Meanwhile, Orange will broadcast every La Liga top-flight game featuring FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in 4K resolution.
Telefónica’s La Liga deal, which it signed with Spanish rights agency Mediapro, runs to the end of the 2021/22 campaign. It includes a mandate stating that the company must share 50 per cent of its premium content with other telcos and streaming services in Spain.
Following the decree, which was implemented after Telefónica’s merger with the Spanish arm of French pay-TV broadcaster Canal+ in 2015, the telco also airs matches across its Movistar+ channels.
Meanwhile, La Liga has become the first league to trial a new platform launched by Mediapro, which allows content owners to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to the creation of soccer highlights. The AIProclips technology was built in collaboration with US-based technology giant IBM and has been used across hundreds of games this season.
María Carmen Fernández, Mediapro’s head of innovation and new business, said: “Artificial intelligence offers us immense opportunity to optimise production processes, but it also opens the door for the development of a huge number of new products aimed at responding to the needs of the hyper segmentation of audiences and the design of customised solutions.
“At Mediapro, we are committed to innovation and we are sure of the need to continue incorporating new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and algorithmic development, combining these with the talent and wealth of experience of our experts to continue responding to an increasingly demanding market in terms of personalisation and interactivity with content.”
