News Broadcasting
Weume Infosys bags mobile rights for Fifa World Cup
MUMBAI: Swiss sports event marketing major Infront Sports & Media AG has sold the India territory mobile broadcast rights for this year’s Fifa World Cup to Weume Infosys Private Limited, a Chennai-headquartered provider of mobile content and Internet services.
Infront made the announcement as part of four agreements it has signed for its World Cup new media rights package; the other three territories being France, Canada and Sweden.
The agreements enable the licensees to transmit up to four minutes of key match footage for “near-live” and/or delayed coverage over the Internet and/or via mobile networks to mobile phones, geo-blocked for user access only within each territory.
The exclusive mobile broadcast rights Weume Infosys has acquired, covers English and Hindi languages and applies also to archive video material of the 2002 event, which took place in Korea and Japan.
Weume (pronounced as We-U-Me) will distribute the content through Weume’s portal as well as mobile networks and mobile portals within the territory. The company’s target is to reach approximately 85 million subscribers, the announcement states.
Meanwhile, telecommunications operator France Telecom has secured the non-exclusive French-language rights for Internet highlight coverage of all World Cup matches for the territory of France. France Telecom will offer the match footage via its Internet platform.
In Canada is Rogers Communications Ltd, a diversified Canadian communications and media company, that is exclusively licensing the English-language Internet and mobile telephony rights in Canada to all 64 matches of the World Cup as well as archive material from the 2002 edition of the tournament. Rogers will leverage the rights acquired on its multiple platforms including Rogers Wireless, Rogers Cable and Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet. Rogers Sportsnet, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications, is already a World Cup television rights holder.
Swedish territory rights have gone to the Scandinavian nation’s largest commercial television broadcaster TV4 AB, which has acquired the Internet and mobile telephony rights to all 64 matches and archive access to 2002 tournament’s matches in Swedish and English languages. TV4 is already a television rights holder.
Infront has so far concluded new media agreements for almost 100 countries worldwide. With more such deals in the pipeline, Infront asserts that the 2006 Fifa World Cup will be the most diversified of any international sports event to date.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
