Fox Networks buys Dutch football tv rights for premier league

Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Networks has taken a 51% controlling interest in tv channel Eredivisie Live which broadcasts premier league matches, say press reports on Wednesday.


The deal, worth €1bn over 12 years and due to begin in the 2013-2014 season, was unanimously agreed by the 18 clubs involved and the football association KNVB.
Fox is paying €960m to show the games and taking over the €60m in debt of Eredivisie Live.
The Dutch matches will be shown on Murdoch’s Sky TV which means Dutch football fans may face having to pay to see their clubs play.
Public broadcasting
What effect it will have on public broadcaster Nos, which currently has the right to broadcast highlights of the matches in the weekend, is not yet known.
‘This is a media revolution,’ Nos director Jan de Jong told Radio 1. He fears Murdoch will insist highlights are shown late in the evening rather than at 7pm as at present, in order to encourage as many viewers as possible to watch the live broadcasts.
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