28 January 2015
Eurosport today announced that it has extended its partnership with the Vuelta a España, the third and last Grand Tour of the cycling season, by securing all TV and digital rights of the event until 2020.
The agreement, which was renewed through the EBU following a tender process, incorporates all 54 territories covered by Eurosport in Europe, and features exclusive rights in key markets including France, Germany, Italy, Poland and UK*.
The premier cycling event will continue to be covered live on the Eurosport channel, which is also available on PC, mobile, tablet and connected TV via Eurosport Player, Eurosport’s online subscription service.
The deal reinforces Eurosport’s status as the ”Home of Cycling” and its unrivalled coverage of over 40 events every season. Eurosport’s cycling portfolio includes the three Grand Tours and the leading one day and multi-day stage races, delivering fans a total of 1,800 hours of TV coverage on Eurosport and Eurosport 2.
Jean-Thierry Augustin, CEO, Eurosport Group commented: “As we enter the twentieth year in our broadcast of the Vuelta a España, I am delighted to extend our long-term partnership with this great property until 2020. Vuelta a España and cycling is in our DNA and, in 2014, 100 million different European viewers** enjoyed the sport on our TV channels. We are pleased to support and contribute to the growth of this premium property across Europe and look forward to bringing all the action and drama to the fans.”
*coverage is exclusive in the UK on the live broadcast only
**Sources: AGF/GfK, BARB, SKO, MMS, TNS-Gallup, Kantar Media, AGB NMR, Armadata/Kantar- Techedge
14 January 2015
Discovery Communications today announced two new executive appointments that will further strengthen the company’s global sports expertise and strategy. Jean-Thierry Augustin has been named President, Sports Strategy & Development in a newly created position at Discovery Networks International, and Peter Hutton has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Eurosport.
Augustin, who previously held the position of CEO at Eurosport, will report directly to JB Perrette, President of Discovery Networks International and continue to be based in Paris. Augustin will work closely with Discovery’s international leadership team and Peter Hutton to create a compelling sports business development strategy that utilizes sports as a game-changing asset and drives new growth globally.
Hutton joins Eurosport from MP & Silva Group, where he held the post of Co-Chief Executive Officer. As Chief Executive Officer of Eurosport, Hutton will oversee the negotiation of sports rights and lead Eurosport’s content strategy to bring renewed focus to programming, production, promotion and platforms. Hutton will take advantage of Discovery’s local infrastructure and global platforms to maximize Eurosport’s value across more than 70 countries and in 20 languages. Hutton also will report to Perrette and will be based in Paris, with a start date of March 1, 2015.
Perrette said, “As we approach the one year anniversary of Discovery’s acquisition of Eurosport in May, our focus is now on unlocking the full value of our must-have sports content for the entire Discovery Communications portfolio to benefit our advertisers, affiliates, audiences and shareholders around the world.”
Perrette continued, “Jean-Thierry has been at the helm of Eurosport for a number of years during which he has proved to be a tremendous commercial leader and this new role will harness his expertise to build Discovery’s global sports strategy and expertise. Similarly, Peter has excelled in the sports media business. With extensive experience in Europe, Asia and Middle East, and strong relationships with broadcasters and rights holders, he is the perfect executive to strengthen Eurosport’s position as a global leader in sports. I am excited to work with both Jean-Thierry and Peter as we take our business to an exciting new level.”
In May 2014, Discovery increased its interest in Eurosport International to 51% from 20% as part of a larger strategic partnership with TF1 Group that began in December 2012. TF1 Group continues to be the majority shareholder of Eurosport France, in which Discovery holds a 20% equity stake.
Jean-Thierry Augustin: Quote and Background
“It has been a privilege to lead Eurosport over the past several years. I look forward to applying my experience and working with JB and Peter to help utilize sports content to drive growth, and create long-term relationships with key partners throughout Discovery’s global business,” said Augustin.
Augustin joined Eurosport in 2001 as Regional Distribution Director and following various promotions was named Chief Executive Officer, Eurosport Group in June 2013. During this period, Augustin played a key role in the launch of Eurosport 2, which is available in 74 million homes in 51 countries and broadcasts 2,300 hours of live action every year. He also oversaw development of Europe’s number-one online sports destination, Eurosport.com which comprises 15 websites in 11 languages, and Eurosport Player, which provides live streaming of Eurosport and Eurosport 2 channels as well as catch-up TV around selected events in 35 markets.
Peter Hutton: Quote and Background
“After over 30 years in sports media, I can’t think of a better brand to lead than Eurosport,” commented Hutton. “I look forward to building on the great work of Jean-Thierry Augustin and his team to ensure that we further improve our line-up of world class sports relevant to our audiences throughout Europe and Asia. With the support of the Discovery teams around the world, we will deliver the best possible global and local events to our viewers and to our commercial partners.”
During his time at MP & Silva Group, Hutton oversaw a portfolio of rights that included the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championships, Formula 1, Grand Slam tennis and Serie A football. He helped launch joint venture channels with Be In Sports in Asia, and took the business into the sponsorship market and key local rights, such as Belgian and Polish football. Before joining MP & Silva Group, Hutton’s previous roles included Managing Director ESPN Star Sports, Senior Vice President Fox International Channels Sport, as well as COO and one of the founders of Middle East and Asian broadcaster Ten Sports.
Source: Eurosport press release
20 November 2014
The Eurosport Group has signed a significant long-term agreement with international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media to consolidate its position as the reference channel for wintersports. Eurosport viewers will be able to enjoy the most comprehensive coverage of wintersports events LIVE on TV and digital through to season 2020/2021.
Europe’s leading sports entertainment group will continue to offer LIVE coverage of all FIS Alpine, Cross-Country, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping, Freestyle and Snowboard World Cup competitions for five seasons from 2016/17 onwards.
In line with Eurosport’s current strategy of expanding exclusivity in pillar sports and for local markets, the broadcaster has secured exclusive coverage in the UK, France,Poland, Romania and Spain for all disciplines of the FIS Alpine and Nordic Skiing World Cup races and in Sweden for the American and Canadian FIS Alpine Ski World Cup races.
By retaining the rights to cover the 2019 and 2021 FIS Alpine and Nordic Skiing World Championships and the 2015 and 2017 FIS Snowboard and Freestyle Skiing World Championships in the agreement the channel will provide coverage of over 200 events every season.
Jean-Thierry Augustin, CEO of the Eurosport Group, said: “Eurosport demonstrates once more a clear commitment to invest in its role as the channel of reference for wintersports. On a strategic level Eurosport continues to secure long-term agreements across its rights portfolio and to increase local exclusivities to provide the best content offer possible for viewers and commercial partners.”
Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront Sports & Media commented: “We are satisfied to announce this major agreement, as Eurosport represents a real occasion for wintersports to get the visibility they deserve around the world. We deem this has been the right choice to reach a wide audience, thanks to the traditional and digital media the broadcaster owns. This will increase the value of wintersports and widen the number of fans and people who practice them.”
The events will feature on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, as well as on Eurosport Asia-Pacific. In Europe alone over 600 hours of broadcasting will be scheduled per season for the FIS World Cups on Eurosport’s channels. The FIS World Cup events will also be available to watch on mobile, tablet, PC and connected TV through Eurosport’s online simulcast service, Eurosport Player.
12 June 2014
Record breaking audience figures have made the 2014 French Open the best ever on Eurosport.
The tournament attracted an average live audience of 1.36 million European viewers* on Eurosport, a rise of 17% on the 2012 tournament, which held the previous record.
Maria Sharapova’s victory over Simona Halep was the most watched women’s tennis match in Eurosport’s history with an average live audience of 3.8m viewers (+ 24% vs 2012 WTA Miami final Radwanska – Sharapova, previous best match).
The men’s final which saw Rafael Nadal triumph for the 9th time at Roland Garros was the best ever French Open final on Eurosport with over 4.1m viewers in Europe and the second best ever tennis match on the channel, just behind the 2012 Australian Open final Nadal – Djokovic (4,3m).
This year’s French Open saw the highest live average audience rises vs 2013 in Romania and Spain (both +128%), UK (+79%) and France (+49%). Eurosport’s strategy of exclusivities in key markets such as Spain contributed to these figures alongside the performances of national heroes like Simona Halep, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray coupled with line-up Eurosport’s own world class consultants such as Mats Wilander, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Marion Bartoli and Henri Leconte.
Eurosport also achieved great success in audience reach for the tournament. A total of 60.7 million different European viewers tuned in vs 58.8m in 2013 – making it the second best ever Grand Slam reach on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, narrowly behind the 61.2m record (2012 French Open).
Eurosport’s in-house production made a key contribution to the event’s on-air success too. The exclusive daily live show “Game, Set and Mats”, hosted by Mats Wilander in evening primetime, reached 22.5m different viewers throughout the tournament, +17% vs 2013.
Online, over 1.3m daily users** visited the French Open section of Eurosport’s websites on the web and on mobile.
Jean-Thierry Augustin, Eurosport Group CEO, said: “To have the best-ever French Open this year is a fantastic achievement for the whole Eurosport team. The strategy to identify and secure exclusivity in specific European markets on key properties has delivered the expected results. The French Open is definitely one of those key properties. Our on-air coverage has been excellent and clearly matched viewers expectations who enjoyed some incredible tennis and great analysis from our experts. It is especially pleasing to achieve this record in our 25th year, which also marks the 25th broadcast of the French Open on our channels.”
Audience key figures at a glance:
– Best ever French Open on Eurosport in average live audience: 1.36m viewers (+17% vs 2012)
– Best ever women’s tennis match on Eurosport: 3.8m viewers for the final Sharapova – Halep
– Best ever French Open men’s final on Eurosport: 4.1m viewers
– +128% in average live audience both in Romania and Spain, +79% in the UK, +49% in France, compared to the 2013 tournament
– Second best ever Grand Slam reach on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 with 60.7m viewers throughout the tournament
*Sources: AGF/GfK, BARB, SKO, MMS, TNS-Gallup, Kantar Media, AGB NMR, Armadata/Kantar- Techedge
**Sources: comScore/Digital Analytix duplicated audience (web + mobile)
14 May 2014
Géraldine Filiol has been appointed Deputy Managing Director for International Communications, Marketing and External Relations at the Eurosport Group.
Filiol steps into this new role after having worked for the Paris-based sports entertainment media group for 19 years where she was most recently Deputy Managing Director for Rights Acquisitions, alongside a 3-year period as Managing Director of the Eurosport Events subsidiary.
Jean-Thierry Augustin, CEO of the Eurosport Group, has tasked Géraldine Filiol to manage the international and Paris-based teams in charge of media relations, TV channels and digital services promotion, as well as on-site branding at sporting and business events. Her role will also include the reinforcement of external relations with governing bodies and international sporting institutions.
Speaking on her new role Géraldine Filiol said: “I am very excited about this new challenge within the Eurosport Group. This opportunity to lead the Communications Department and our external relations comes at an exciting time in Eurosport’s development. Eurosport is in great shape today with an increasingly strong TV and digital offer featuring unrivalled live sport and strong editorial content. We have always enjoyed excellent relationships with our partners and I look forward to developing them further in line with our strategic objectives.”
Géraldine Filiol replaces Heather Bowler who is leaving Eurosport after seven years for a new role at the Women’s Tennis Association in London.
ABOUT EUROSPORT GROUP
In 2014 Eurosport celebrates 25 years of leadership in live sports broadcasting and digital innovation.
The Eurosport Group is Europe’s leading sports entertainment group. Eurosport, the n°1 pan-European TV channel, broadcasts in 20 languages and reaches 135 million homes across 54 countries. Eurosport HD is the high definition simulcast of Eurosport. Eurosport 2 broadcasts to 72 million households in 18 languages across 51 countries. Eurosport 2 HD was launched in August 2009. Eurosport Asia-Pacific reaches 16 countries in the region and launched an HD channel in September 2011. Eurosportnews is the sports news channel transmitted worldwide. Eurosport.com, Europe’s n°1 online sports destination, has up to 23 million unique users per month (comScore) across an international network of sports websites in 11 languages, including Yahoo! co-branded sites in Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK. The Eurosport.com free mobile applications are available in 10 languages. Eurosport Player, Eurosport’s online TV service, provides LIVE and on-demand sports to fans’ PCs in 53 countries and the Player application is available for mobile, tablet and connected TV in up to 40 countries. Eurosport Events is the group’s expert division in the management and promotion of international sporting events. (Source: Press release)
