MUMBAI: The Elite Football League of India has roped in Fox SportsCenter?s (ESPN SportsCenter) anchor Kevin
Negandhi to join the Board of Directors of the EFLI.

Negandhi will advise the league with regard to broadcasting issues and opportunities.

EFLI CEO Richard Whelan said, "Having a broadcaster of Kevin?s caliber joining our growing ELFI team - which includes Ron Jaworski, Mike Ditka, Michael Irvin, Kurt Warner, and Brandon Chillar - further confirms our belief in the future success of the league. Kevin?s commitment as a Director and knowledge as an advisor will be invaluable in guiding the EFLI as we continue to grow and gain momentum."

Kevin Negandhi is the first ESPN SportsCenter anchor of Indian descent. The award-winning sports journalist anchors multiple ESPN shows in addition to SportsCenter, including Baseball Tonight, College Basketball Final, College Football Live, ESPNews, First Take and NFL Live. His favorite sport is football. His favorite team is the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I have always dreamed of seeing American style football played in India," said Negandhi. "With the continued growth of the economy in India and the passion the country has for sports, bringing American football to this new fan base will be an energizing experience."

The Elite Football League of India?s second season will kick off ?Live? in November of 2013 and conclude in February of 2014 with a total of eight teams consisting of Indian player and coaches trained by Americans.

MUMBAI: Time Warner Cable SportsNet has pipped Fox Sports to land an exclusive television deal with Los Angeles Dodgers to launch a new regional sports network.

The network which will be known as SportsNet LA will be controlled by American Media Productions (AMI), a subsidiary of LA Dodgers. AMI was launched in December last year to launch a new Los Angeles Dodgers regional sports network.

SportsNet LA will be the home for the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning with the 2014 Major League Baseball season. In addition to being the exclusive local home for all of the Dodger games, SportsNet LA will provide comprehensive behind-the-scenes Dodger programming, featuring more insights, analysis and commentary about the team than ever available before.

Time Warner Cable (TWC) has agreed to be SportsNet LA?s charter distributor, and will carry the new network for its customers throughout Southern California and Hawaii under a long-term affiliation deal.

The deal is estimated to be worth between $7 billion to $8 billion over 20 to 25 years and does not include a Spanish-language channel. The team?s current rights deal with Fox pays about $40 million annually while the new deal is worth $280 million annually.

Fox had given an exclusive 45-day window to Dodgers at the end of the 2012 season to negotiate an extension. However, the exclusive window expired.

In addition, in return for agreeing to make payments over the life of the deal, TWC will be the exclusive advertising and affiliate sales agent for the new network and will have certain branding and programing rights with respect to the network. TWC will also provide certain non-game production and technical services to AMP.

Los Angeles Dodgers chairman Mark Walter said, "We concluded last year that the best way to give our fans what they want - more content and more Dodger baseball - was to launch our own network. The creation of AMP will provide substantial financial resources over the coming years for the Dodgers to build on their storied legacy and bring a World Championship home to Los Angeles. Just as we are actively transforming the team and the stadium, we want the Dodgers to be exhibited on the very best sports network in the country - one that will provide an unrivaled fan experience."

AMP principal owner Todd Boehly said, "We are greatly pleased that Time Warner Cable, the largest distributor in the market place, has come aboard to support the Dodgers and SportsNet LA as our charter distributor. Their presence in Los Angeles will be invaluable in helping us serve Dodger fans and our community with excellence."

"We are delighted to support the Dodgers and their ownership group in their launch of SportsNet LA. The Dodgers have one of the most passionate and loyal audiences in sports, and we look forward to helping deliver this new network to their fans," said Time Warner Cable Sports President David Rone. "This deal, like our Lakers? deal, furthers our efforts to attain greater certainty and control over local and regional sports programming costs."

MUMBAI: The New Year might well be the beginning of battle between Walt Disney?s ESPN and News Corp?s Fox Sports Media Group (FSMG) for supremacy in the US sports broadcasting business.

Fox has taken the inorganic route to take on the market leader ESPN. Close on the heels of buying 49 per cent stake in Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (Yes), the News Corp-owned sports network has now snapped up SportsTime Ohio for $230 million.

The Cleveland-based regional sports network offers local telecasts of Cleveland Indians games.

Additionally, FSMG has secured the exclusive long-term local telecast rights for Indians baseball, ensuring that the Indians will once again be part of the Fox Sports portfolio of regionally televised hometown teams. Prior to the 2006 season, Indians games were locally televised by Fox Sports Ohio.

Fox Sports Ohio serves more than five million homes throughout the state of Ohio, as well as portions of Kentucky, Indiana, western Pennsylvania, western New York, and West Virginia. Fox Sports Ohio is the exclusive regional TV home of the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Cavaliers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Columbus Crew, Xavier Musketeers, and Cincinnati Bearcats.

SportsTime Ohio also offers other locally relevant sports content, including Cleveland Browns programming, OHSAA football and basketball playoffs and championships, and Mid-American Conference events.

"The acquisition of SportsTime Ohio solidifies our business in Ohio, and Fox Sports Media Group?s new long-term agreement with the Indians reunites the team with the FOX Sports family," said Fox Sports Networks EVP Jeff Krolik.

"We look forward to once again showcasing the Indians to their fans, as well as working with the Indians ownership to continue to enhance the value of this iconic franchise."

Cleveland Indians Chief Executive Officer Paul Dolan said, "We look forward to a long-term partnership with FOX that will continue to bring state-of-the-art broadcasts of Indians games to the fans while strengthening the franchise and enhancing our ability to build competitive teams."

Through its subsidiary Fox Sports Networks (FSN), Fox Sports Media Group runs 20 owned-and-operated regional sports networks, which collectively produce over 5,000 live local events each year and serve as the exclusive regional TV home to more than half of all MLB, NHL, and NBA teams.

In Asia, News Corp had acquired ESPN?s 50 per cent stake in Asian sports broadcasting joint venture ESPN Star Sports for $335 million. It was followed by a $1.99 billion bid for a complete takeover of Australian billionaire Packer?s Consolidated Media Holdings, which holds 50 per cent of Fox Sports and 25 per cent of Foxtel.

MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch-promoted News Corporation has said in its regulatory filing that its publishing arm on a standalone basis would have lost $2.08 billion in the last fiscal year compared to $678 million a year earlier.

The loss includes an impairment charge of around $2.6 billion due to closure of the News of the World and lower revenues at its Australian papers.

The company?s revenue from publishing business fell to $8.65 billion in fiscal year 2012, from $9.1 billion a year earlier.

News Corp has initiated the process of splitting the company into two independent, publicly-traded companies by filing an initial Form 10 Registration Statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Earlier, this month News Corp had decided to name its media and entertainment company as Fox Group with the publishing entity retaining the name News Corporation.

News Corporation, the new publishing arm, will comprise a range of market-leading brands in newspapers, information services and integrated marketing services, digital real estate services, book publishing, digital education, as well as sports programming and pay-TV distribution in Australia.

Fox Group, the film and television businesses, will comprise Fox Broadcasting, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Twentieth
Century Fox Television, Fox Sports, Fox International Channels, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FX, Star Network, the National Geographic Channels, Shine Group, Fox Television Stations, BSkyB, Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland.

"The filing of the Form 10 is another important step forward in the evolution of our company and in the establishment of two independent global leaders in Fox Group and the new News Corporation," said Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of News Corporation.

"Today we are pleased to provide further details on the new News Corporation - a global diversified media and information services company uniquely positioned to take advantage of exciting growth opportunities and new business models."

MUMBAI: Discovery, which is a leader in US pay-TV market, is all set to become world?s leading pay TV programmer outside the US, after it acquired ProSiebenSat.1 Group?s SBS Nordic operations for $1.7 billion and a 20 per cent stake in Eurosport for$221.6 million ( ?170 million).

The acquisition of ProSiebenSat.1 Group?s SBS Nordic operations and a minority stake in TF1/Eurosport would add to Discovery Communications? earnings and accelerate the international growth, Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav said on a conference call.

The two acquisitions will add sports and scripted programming to the company even as he sought to clarify that the wasn?t planning to become a player in US sports broadcast which has big players like ESPN and Fox Sports among others.

"The US sports TV business is a totally different business. I do not see us getting into big checks," Zaslav said.

Discovery, Zaslav said, now has 153 channels in 217 countries with more than 1.8 billion subscribers. He also pointed out that Discovery was a "unique" media company as it owns nearly all of its content, which allows it room for syndication.

Similarly, TLC, he said, is now in 150 countries and has more than 300 million subscribers worldwide, making it the number one female TV lifestyle brand in the world.

According to Zaslv, the two deals will help Discovery to grow faster.

On being asked as to when international would overtake US business, Discovery Networks International CEO Mark Hollinger said there would be "friendly rivalry" between the US and international teams.

Hollinger and Zaslav are also bullish about Eurosport which has a potential for growth in other regions inlcuding Asia. Eurosport was a viable proposition since it was focussed on low-cost sports like tennis and ice skating. It also airs Bundesliga outside of Germany where it is cheaper.

MUMBAI: News Corporation has completed its $2 billion acquisition of Australia media company Consolidated Media Holdings, which holds 50 per cent of Fox Sports and 25 per cent of Foxtel.

News Corp had on 20 June made a $2 billion bid to wrest control of CMH which would give it a greater share of Australia‘s pay television market. CMH‘s board backed the offer in the absence of a higher bid.

The buyout will see the exit of Australian billionaire James Packer from media business as he sets out for a bigger play in the gambling business. Packer, the son of late media baron Kerry Packer, held 50.1 per cent stake in the CMH.

The deal will give News Corp‘s Australian subsidiary News Limited a complete ownership of Fox Sports, an equal joint venture partnership between Consolidated Media and News Corp, and a 50 per cent stake in pay TV operator Foxtel, which is half owned by Australian telecom and media company Telstra Corporation with News Corp and CMH holding a 25 per cent stake each.

As per the agreement, News Limited and News Pay TV Financing (News), 100 per cent owned subsidiaries of News Corporation, will acquire CMH for $3.45 cash per share by way of a scheme of arrangement.

The scheme consideration of $3.45 represents an implied multiple of 9.4x EV/Ebitda based on a proportional consolidation of CMH‘s main investments in Foxtel and Fox Sports.

CMH‘s major shareholders CPH executive chairman James Packer said, "I am delighted that CMH and News have reached agreement on the terms and conditions, and as I said in June, CPH will support the Scheme in the absence of a superior cash proposal. In my view, this is a great outcome for CMH shareholders and for News and it reflects a fair price."

The implementation of the Scheme is subject to a number of customary conditions including CMH shareholder and Court approvals.