Rift grows between Sogecable and Mediapro

Instead of going toward a solution, the gap between Sogecable and Mediapro over Spanish league football has widened, and the animosity has intensified.

Sogecable announced it would cut the signal to rival La Sexta, the free-to-air channel which belongs to Mediapro, because it still owes Sogecable EUR 58 million for matches over the last two years.

Mediapro threatened to retaliate by blocking broadcasts on Sogecable's pay-TV service, Digital+.

"The grave and unilateral decision taken by Sogecable and its managers ... without doubt is going to signal a drastic and substantial reduction of matches that will be broadcast by pay-TV," read a Mediapro statement.

After Mediapro announced it had signed 12 La Liga clubs to media rights contracts for the 2008-2009 season, and struck deals with 39 of the 42 top two tier clubs for 2009-2010, Sogecable charged these were in breach of contract, and threatened to fight it in court.

Sogecable announced it has started legal action against Mediapro.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.