Court to hear ARD case against Kirch
Pubcaster sez it has right to include coverage in news programs
Kirch pays around DM749 million ($335 million) per season for the rights to air games on its money-losing pay TV web Premiere World, followed by coverage on Sat 1. ARD claims it has a constitutional right to include coverage on its news programs.
The pair scrambled to a last-minute compromise over the weekend, just in time for the start of the season.
The pubcaster was not allowed to show footage of the top match, Borussia Moenchengladbach vs. Bayern Muenchen. Instead, it reported Moenchengladbach's 1-0 victory over Muenchen. ARD did get footage of two less significant games.
ARD filed for the temporary court order against Kirch's sports rights outfit ISPR last week after failing to reach agreement.
Sat 1's soccer program "Ran" has lost precious 14- to 49-year-old viewers the past few seasons, causing the show's ad prices to tumble.
Demanding $14 mil
Kirch is now demanding $14 million from ARD for 90 seconds worth of footage of two games per newscast. Last season, ARD paid a couple of million dollars less for clips that included a wider selection and higher number of matches.
The matches have so far failed to boost Premiere World's subscribers, which hover around 2.3 million. Company had hoped for 2.9 million by now.
