Sogecable to continue airing football after agreeing payment

Spanish pay-TV provider Sogecable has said it can guarantee that it will be able to deliver coverage of first and second league football matches for the next season, following a decision to make payments demanded by producer Mediapro for broadcasting rights, on the condition that the latter provides a bank guarantee or other security.

Sogecable’s ability to deliver football coverage for the next season had been thrown into doubt by its ongoing dispute with Mediapro.

Mediapro’s production arm, which holds the broadcasting rights to the matches, has filed for insolvency, a move Sogecable says is due entirely to it being forced to make a €105m payment to Sogecable’s AVS sports subsidiary after losing a court battle over breaches of the football contract between the pair signed in 2006. In its statement, Sogecable said that Mediapro’s official filing revealed that its decision to seek bankruptcy protection was due to implementation of the court ruling against it rather than to Sogecable’s withholding of payment, as had earlier been claimed.