RAI in UEFA Champions League deal

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UEFA has awarded RAI with the Italian free-to-air broadcast rights for the Champions League seasons 2006-2009. RAI will screen the first choice match every Wednesday and the highlights programmes on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The pay TV rights will be shared between Sky Italia, who will show all matches live, and Mediaset, who may broadcast all matches simultaneously on its DTT platform. Although RAI is an established broadcaster of many sporting events in Italy, this is the first time it has ventured into UEFA Champions League. Until now, Mediaset has held the free-to- air rights.

UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson said: “We are happy to be welcoming RAI to the UEFA Champions League family of broadcasters and look forward to working with them in the future. We are also pleased to be carrying on our relationship with Mediaset, as they have been with us since the inception of the

UEFA Champions League and have contributed greatly to the strong profile of the competition in Italy. Sky Italia will also remain one of UEFA Champions League broadcaster and we are confident that their commitment and the very comprehensive coverage of the competition they provide now will continue into the future.”