TV

BT Sport will show 52 live Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tournaments every year after extending its TV deal with the sport’s governing body.

Starting from January 2017, the three year deal will see an increase of 30 events per year from the current deal and includes the rights to broadcast tennis clips and WTA content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Simon Green, Head of BT Sport, said: “We are delighted to not only extend our deal with the WTA but also add even more women’s tennis to our calendar.

“From 2017 we will be broadcasting up to 156 events over a three year period and showcasing the best in women’s world tennis and British tennis too.

“We have been broadcasting elite tennis since 2013 and this reiterates our commitment to women’s sport.”

Steve Simon, WTA CEO, commented: “We’re delighted BT Sport will continue to offer the best of women’s tennis and bring our premium events and world-class players to millions of fans and households across the UK and Ireland.”

John Learing, Managing Director WTA Media, said BT’s “investment in our sport goes far beyond a rights fee. They are a true partner in every sense of the word.”

Perry is a familiar face to motorsport fans and will also feature in BT’s FIM Speedway and the World Rally Championships coverage as well as “other programming strands for the channel which will be announced in the coming weeks”.

The MotoGP season starts in Qatar on Thursday March 17 with BT Sport viewers enjoying exclusively live coverage of all 18 races until the season finale in November.

In addition, the channel will show all of the practice and qualifying sessions live, plus full coverage of the Moto2, Moto3 and MotoGP races across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Perry, said: “I’m really excited to be joining BT Sport and working with their tremendous team. Motorsport continues to be massive in the UK and I can’t wait to bring BT Sport viewers all of the action from in front of the camera.”

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, added: “Suzi is an extremely popular and well respected TV presenter and I’m delighted she is joining our team. 

“Our viewers will really benefit from her vast motorsport knowledge and experience across our growing portfolio of motorsport.”

UKTV has made a bold move into sports broadcasting after signing up the exclusive UK rights for former boxing world champion David Haye’s long-awaited comeback fight.

The match will be shown on the broadcaster’s flagship free-to-air entertainment channel, Dave, live from the O2 on Saturday 16 January at 9pm.
 
Haye, the former world champion in two different weight categories, is returning to professional boxing with a heavyweight bout against Australia’s Mark De Mori.

The comeback fight will be his first since defeating Dereck Chisora at Upton Park over three years ago and sees Haye take on a top 10 WBA ranked heavyweight in De Mori, who boasts a record of 30 wins (26 KOs), and only one defeat, since turning pro in 2004.

De Mori is undefeated since September 2004 and most recently claimed a first round knock-out of Germany’s Marcel Zeller in October. 
 
In addition to the live match, Dave will also show a special half-hour preview show the night before.

The channel’s two hour live fight coverage will include highlights from the day’s boxing at the O2, live studio discussions plus all the action from the ringside.

UKTV’s Richard Watsham said: “We are quickly establishing UKTV as a network able to handle attention grabbing live events, from the Python’s last ever performance – Monty Python Live (Mostly) for Gold through Really’s Halloween spectacular Most Haunted Live to Dave’s ratings success, the Red Bull Soapbox Race.

“Our ambition continues to grow in terms of the variety and quality of our programming and appointment to view TV remains at the top of our wish list.”
 
Steve North, general manager of Dave, added: “We are increasingly stretching our offering to Dave viewers, bringing them programmes which tap into the news agenda, such as last year’s election special The Pub Landlord vs Nigel Farage. 

“I’m thrilled to be giving our viewers a ringside seat to this hotly-anticipated boxing match and, with Dave’s own spin on the event, helping to show the sport in a brand new light.”