Sony Kix aquires broadcast rights for The Emirates FA Cup and Serie A TIM

The channel has signed a three-year deal to air the two football tournaments exclusively.

Sony Kix, the recently launched sports channel from Multi Screen Media, has bagged an exclusive three-year deal to air two prestigious football competitions - The Emirates FA Cup and Serie A TIM.

Sony Kix aquires broadcast rights for The Emirates FA Cup and Serie A TIM

Following an agreement with MP & Silva - The Emirates FA Cup and Serie A TIM rights holder for the India sub-continent - the channel will exclusively showcase live coverage of the two football properties in a bid to tap into the growing popularity of the sport in the region.

These acquisitions aim to strengthen the channel's current portfolio of live football programming which already boasts of marquee properties including the UEFA EURO 2016, Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016, European Qualifiers for 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup and COPA America, available exclusively on the network.

Starting August 2, 2015, Sony Kix will broadcast the traditional curtain raiser to the English football season, the FA Community Shield, followed by The Emirates FA Cup. In addition to the entire selection of 59 matches in the season, the channel will broadcast select home-friendly matches of the English Senior Men's and England under-21 Team (England Competitions).

Featuring the regular season, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final rounds, the tournament will witness some of the biggest names in English club football vying for the cup championship in England.

The Italian Serie A TIM Football Championship kicks off the 2015 season on the weekend of August 22. This will be its 114th season. The channel has access to 380 live matches of the game, per season. It will showcase in-depth post-match highlights, accompanied by a weekly highlight bulletin providing insights into the league. The league hosts some of the best players in international football such as Gianluigi Buffon, Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal, Franco Vazquez, Mauro Icardi, Mario Mandzukic, Andrea Pirlo, Juan Iturbe and Felipe Anderson.

Prasana Krishnan, business head, Sony Six and Sony Kix, says, "We are witnessing a golden era of sports viewership transition in the country, and are proud to be offering two of the world's most renowned events in football. We have seen an overwhelming demand for football viewership in the country, and, through these acquisitions, we wish to cater to that need and reiterate our commitment towards providing high quality sports content for our viewers."

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com