RapidTVNews reports that Goal.com claims that Al Jazeera Sports is to bid for the rights to broadcast the English Premier League in both the MENA region and on a pay per view basis in the UK, when overseas bidding for the 2013-14 season begins.

Even more surprising, Goal.com also claims that Al Jazeera is considering entering the UK premium sports market, where broadcast rights to Premier League matches are currently shared between Sky TV and ESPN.

Invitations to tender for the next round of English Premier League TV rights are expected to be issued early next year, with winners to be announced in summer 2012. The current domestic rights deal has earned the Premier League £1.782 billion over three years. Al Jazeera has declined to comment on the speculation.

Al Jazeera currently holds the MENA rights for the FA Cup and also the UEFA Champions League. It is also the exclusive broadcaster across the Arab world for the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

Currently, Abu Dhabi Media holds the MENA rights to the English Premier League which it broadcasts on its Abu Dhabi Sports pay channels via cable, IPTV and online.

Emirates 24|7 reports that football fans in the MENA region have expressed their disappointment in having to pay an equivelant of Dh 1,000 to gain access to the English Premier League (EPL). In the past MENA region deal, new OSN subscribers obtained a free receiver and only had to pay a smaller added monthly subscription fee on top of the baic OSN package to obtain the EPL. Now, users have to Dh 1,000 or more for a high definition (HD) Humax receiver, plus access to the matches for a year.

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Rapid TV News reports that Qtel will be offering the 2010/11 season of the English Premier League (EPL) on Qatar’s Mozaic TV for a price of QR35, the only service in Qatar providing coverage of the EPL. The package will include access to live coverage of all 380 games, along with 24/7 programming featuring previews, reviews and analysis from 14 August 2010.

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The National reports that Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) has announced two television broadcasting deals with Endemol Sport and IMG Sports Media to launch English Premier League channels in the region. Endemol Sport, which owns the screening rights for next season’s EPL, will launch four EPL channels. IMG Sports Media will provide live coverage, including pitch-side reports and pre- and post-game interviews and reports.

The two new Arabic EPL channels to be launched will include original shows. The remaining two channels will be in English, the main one a 24-hour channel from the English Premier League.

There will also be four reporter teams based in the UK covering news around the league.

According to ADMC, all 380 games will be broadcasted through AD Sports subscription channels.

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Rapid TV News reports that the English Premier League soccer matches are to be offered online from the start of this autumn’s season. According to Edward Borgerding, chief executive of ADMC, viewers will have a choice between two methods of viewing the games over broadband – either web television or internet protocol television (IPTV).

“The long-term future of media is going to be a subscription model,” he said. “Consumers will pay for things that they like. They will pay for content that they like and that they need. I think that’s the future, some combination of advertising-supported and subscription” stated Edward Borgerding.
 

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Showtime Arabia is mounting a major effort to win new subscribers in the Middle East, using English Premiership soccer.

Dubai-based Showtime spent a fortune to secure exclusive English Premier League soccer for its subscribers, and the marketing build-up has begun. Showtime will air every one of the 380 games kicking off August 11. Showtime has gone the extra mile, investing in new local studio facilities, local hosting (in English and Arabic) and has secured some top-line talent to host the pre-match coverage, and actual match commentary.

Showtime is dedicating up to three live channels (Showsports 1, 2 and 3) and Showsports Extra to manage up to four live games simultaneously. There are occasions when six games are being played at the same time, and the soccer games will pre-empt some programming on other channels.

Read more at Rapid TV News