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SCMP Reporter

I-Cable Communications has outbid Television Broadcasts and NOW Broadband TV to gain exclusive rights to next year's football World Cup, which will be staged in Germany.

The Wharf Group company has won licences for both free-to-air and pay-television platforms, which means other operators will have to pay i-Cable if they want to broadcast tournament matches.

The company will sign an agreement today with Infront Sports & Media, the international sports marketing company that handles the broadcasting of the FIFA World Cup.

It is the second time i-Cable has landed exclusive broadcasting rights for the event, having successfully bid for the 2002 World Cup, which was jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea. Previously, TVB and Asia Television had co-aired the tournament.

'We have been in talks with FIFA  since 2002,' an i-Cable source said. 'We showed in 2002 that we did a good job with promotions. The others can't  compete with us.'

In 2002, i-Cable paid  $100 million for broadcasting rights and production fees, which was more than covered by  advertising revenue.

The station, which had  702,000 customers last year, will launch a World Cup subscription package early next year.

The company, which focuses on sports, news and entertainment, already has  exclusive broadcasting rights to the English Premier League, Spanish League, Italy's Serie A and the German League.

However, last year it lost the right  to carry the ESPN and Star Sports channels to NOW Broadband, which is estimated to have 480,000 subscribers.

'The broadcasting of soccer matches is for retaining existing customers, rather than attracting new users,' UOB Kay Hian media analyst Tommy Ho said.

Stephen Ng Tin-hoi, i-Cable's chairman, said previously that the company would launch mini-packages to attract niche audiences and boost market share.



Cable wins rights to  World Cup coverage