MUMBAI: The Football Association (FA) has agreed a new six season deal with BBC Sport for the radio commentary rights for all men?s and women?s FA Cup & International matches along with the Community Shield.

The deal covers the qualification campaigns for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, and the 2016 European Championships.

BBC Sport director Barbara Slater said, "We?re delighted to have secured another agreement for the commentary rights on BBC Radio 5 live for the FA Cup and International matches. Both have a strong heritage on BBC radio and are hugely valued by our listeners. It?s really exciting to take it forward for another six seasons."

The agreement covers the 2012/13 season and runs through to the end of the 2017/18 season.

BBC Radio 5 live controller Adrian Van-Klaveren said, "The agreement means we can continue to offer BBC Radio 5 live listeners the best coverage of matches and tournaments which they really care about. We?re delighted that we will continue to capture all the action and drama over the next six seasons."

The FA general secretary Alex Horne commented, "We?re delighted that the BBC will be bringing The FA Cup, England internationals and the Community Shield to large audiences nationwide. It will be an exciting year for England as Roy Hodgson leads us into the World Cup qualifying campaign and some mouth-watering fixtures as part of The FA?s 150th anniversary celebrations. We thank BBC 5 Radio live for their support and look forward to working with them over the next six seasons."

MUMBAI: After son James Murdoch, media baron Rupert Murdoch has resigned as director of his U.K. media group News International, NewsCorp Investments, and Times Newspaper Holdings, a move that has been described as corporate house cleaning process.

The BBC said that he has also resigned from boards of a number of subsidiaries in America, Australia and India, where it runs the Star TV network.

The move comes in the backdrop of News Corp?s announcement to separate the profitable film and television business from the publishing business, which has been a drag on the media conglomerates balance sheet.

News International, which publishes The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun newspapers, has become a headache for News Corp due to its exposure to the phone hacking scandal, which led to the closure of News of the World tabloid besides arrest of company official and millions of pounds in damages to the victims.

More than that, the scandal has besmirched the image of Murdoch?s and prevented News Corp from making a complete takeover of BSkyB in which it holds 39 per cent.

Incidentally, in February this year James Murdoch had to quit the the boards of News Corp?s newspaper companies as well as BSkyB board due to the scandal. The Junior Murdoch has since moved to US as deputy COO of News Corp.

"I wanted to let you know that Rupert Murdoch has resigned as director of a number of companies, including NI Group Limited, known to most of you as News International, and Times Newspapers Holdings Limited," News International head Tom Mockridge reportedly said in an email.

"As you may be aware, Rupert resigned from a number of UK boards, including News Group Newspapers and Times Newspapers Limited, some time ago. He has also stepped down from more than a dozen boards of companies with interests in the US, Australia and India."

The move has fuelled speculation that Murdoch is looking to sell off his UK publishing business in order to rid himself of the scandal menace.

MUMBAI: BBC has signed an exclusive multi-platform deal with the International Olympics Committee (IOC) for the rights to cover the next four Olympic Games till 2020.

The deal will include exclusive TV, radio and digital rights for Sochi 2014, Rio 2016, Pyeongchang 2018 as well as the 2020 Games.

Outgoing BBC DG Mark Thompson said, "I?m delighted that the Olympic Games will continue to be broadcast exclusively on the BBC into the 2020s. It?s terrific news in the days before BBC Sport begins to cover the London 2012 Games and a tribute to the enduring partnership between the BBC and the Olympic movement."

Rio 2016 and the 2020 Olympics will represent the 16th and 17th Summer Olympic Games broadcast by the BBC, a sequence that began with the 1948 Games in London and one that has run unbroken since the 1960 Games in Rome, Italy.

2012 Olympics COO Dominic Coles, who negotiated the deal, said, "It?s vital that big national and international events like the Olympic Games remain free-to-air where they can be watched by the greatest number of people. We?re delighted to continue our longstanding partnership with the Olympics and the IOC, adding to BBC Sport?s outstanding rights portfolio and firmly establishing the BBC as the home of major sporting events that unite the nation and this deal demonstrates that BBC Sport remains a force in sports broadcasting.?

In total, the BBC will have broadcast 33 Olympic Games after the 2020 Games, including the 16 Winter Olympics since Squaw Valley, California, USA, also in 1960.

At the London 2012 Olympic Games, for the first time, the BBC will be providing live coverage of every Olympic Sport from every venue throughout the day. This will amount to around 2,500 hours of live Olympic sporting action, over 1,000 hours more than Beijing 2008.

MUMBAI: BBC has agreed to sell its Television Centre in West London to property developers Stanhope Plc for a total price in the order of ?200 million.

Contracts for the sale have been exchanged. Full details of the sale will be available on completion.

BBC put Television Centre on sale in June 2011 and has operated on the site since 1960.

The BBC originally announced its intention to sell Television Centre in 2007. LSH were appointed in November 2010 following a competitive tender to help finalise the strategy to market the 14-acre freehold site.

The pubcaster?s objective was to maximise value and take advantage of high investor demand for commercial property in London and a shortage of landmark sites as distinctive as Television Centre.

MUMBAI: BBC and the ATP have agreed a two-year extension to their Barclays ATP World Tour Finals broadcast agreement.

The new deal will see BBC broadcast the next two editions of the event at The O2 in London in November 2012 and 2013. The BBC will broadcast one live match every day of the tournament including the opening match, one semi-final and the final. The BBC iPlayer will offer all BBC broadcast matches.

ATP executive president, chairman Brad Drewett said, ?We?re very happy to continue our partnership with the BBC for a further two years. This agreement provides a fantastic platform for showcasing our jewel event to millions of people on terrestrial television in the UK. We look forward to the best players in the world putting on another fantastic show for fans worldwide."

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is the year-end culmination to the men?s professional tennis season, featuring only the world?s best eight singles players and doubles teams.

Featuring a unique round robin format and with only the world?s elite players competing, the season-ending tournament guarantees more top eight match-ups than any other event throughout the season.

BBC director sport Barbara Slater said, ?The ATP World Tour Finals are a prestigious and fitting finale to the season and we?re delighted that BBC viewers will continue to be able to see top quality tennis as the world?s best players compete in London."

The BBC first broadcast the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in 2009 when the event moved from Shanghai to London. This year?s tournament takes place from 5-12 November.