Sky sells German division to RTL Group for initial €150m
The German division of Sky will be sold to a leading local operator as European groups consolidate to compete with the American streaming giants.
RTL Group, the largest German broadcaster, is to purchase the Sky unit with an upfront cash payment of €150 million and a possible additional consideration of up to €377 million.
Sky's German business holds sports rights including Bundesliga and Premier League football, as well as the rights to show Formula 1 races.
RTL, which is owned by the German media group Bertelsmann, will make the additional payments for Sky depending on the performance of its share price post-acquisition. Comcast, the parent company of Sky, can call for the payment of the additional consideration within five years of the deal closing if RTL's share price is higher than €41, capped at a payment of €70 per share or €377 million.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
13 minutes ago
- BBC News
'There's hope for me on grass' - Swiatek loses Bad Homburg final
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek says she "showed there is hope" for her on grass despite losing to American Jessica Pegula in the Bad Homburg Open world number one Swiatek was playing in her first grass-court final but was edged out 6-4 7-5 by being a former junior champion at Wimbledon, Swiatek has struggled on the quicker grass surface in her professional career. Her 22 WTA titles to date have either been won on hard courts (12) or clay (10).Poland's four-time French Open and one-time US Open champion reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2023 but has not gone beyond the fourth round in any of her other four appearances has appeared to turn a corner in Germany this week, recording her first victory over a top-10 player on grass by crushing last year's Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-1 6-3 in the semi-finals."This tournament shows there is hope for me on grass," said Swiatek, who appeared to be on the verge of tears after her loss. "I'm happy we can play here and I'm happy I could prove that." World number three Pegula, who won her third title of 2025, told Swiatek in her on-court interview: "I know you say you can't play on grass, but trust me you can still play pretty good on grass. Cut yourself some slack."Good luck for next week, I know it's a short turnaround for both of us."Swiatek faces Russian Polina Kudermetova in the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday while Pegula is up against Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto on the same day.A tough draw means Swiatek could take on former winner Elena Rybakina in the fourth round of Wimbledon and French Open champion Coco Gauff in the theory Pegula has a much kinder run, although she could face surprise Queen's Club champion Tatjana Maria in round two.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
EU wants free hand luggage. Here's how it could hit flight prices
With his wheelie bag in tow, Peter Bellew strode towards the gate at Munich airport to board his easyJet flight, bound for Gatwick, in the spring of this year. 'You'll need to pay to bring that onboard, Sir,' said a member of the dispatch team, pointing to the cabin luggage. The remark elicited a wry smile as the passenger handed over his credit card. Little did the airport employee realise it, but as easyJet's chief operating officer from 2019 to 2022, Bellew was the very man who introduced such fees in the first place. Baggage charges are big business for budget airlines such as easyJet. Last year, the Luton-based carrier raked in £2.5 billion in 'ancillary revenues' — just over a quarter of its overall takings. But if the EU gets its way, this vital income stream may come to an end. • I'm sick of squabbles about overhead lockers. This is how to behave Politicians in Brussels are pressing ahead with reforms to give passengers the right to travel with a cabin bag weighing up to 7kg free of charge, in addition to a smaller item that can fit under the seat. Other changes include giving under-12s, or those travelling with disabled passengers, the right to pick a seat next to their accompanying traveller, also free of charge. Last Tuesday, MEPs on the European parliament's transport and tourism committee passed the changes, voting 38-2 in favour. The European parliament now has three months to consider the new laws, after which they will be adopted, if politicians do nothing. Alternatively, they can be adopted, rejected, or amendments proposed. On the face of it, this seems good news for consumers. A cabin bag can cost from £6 to £60 on Ryanair, depending on the flight and when you buy your ticket. At easyJet, the charge is £5.99 to £48, and on Wizz Air it varies from as little as £13 to as much as £140. These fees would, in effect, be outlawed if Brussels legislators get their way — although the EU is proposing that they apply to wheelie bags with dimensions that add up to no more than 100cm, which is smaller than the maximum size allowed by all three budget carriers. For airlines, the reforms could be devastating. Cabin baggage fees have grown to become a big part of the add-ons charged by low-cost carriers — often to the chagrin of their customers. At Wizz, ancillary income represents nearly half — about 45 per cent — of total revenues. Ancillaries at Ryanair equate to 34 per cent of the top line, and 26 per cent at easyJet. The three airlines are now raking in £8.5 billion from add-ons annually. This was not always the case, however. In 1999, Ryanair customers were spending an average of €7.48 on ancillaries, compared with €23.57 (£20.15) nowadays — a threefold increase. Publicly available figures for Wizz go back to 2014: per-passenger spending on add-ons has risen from €25.40 then to €37.08 now. Charging for bags at easyJet is a newer phenomenon, brought in by Bellew in 2021, with passengers spending an average of £27.39 on ancillaries. Airlines argue that these measures have allowed them to keep headline fares down. And the numbers appear to support this. Average per-passenger fare income on Ryanair was €52.52 in 1999 and is now €46.10. Wizz fares have also fallen, from €47.39 to €46.01 between 2014 and now. This is why airlines argue that the EU reforms will backfire on travellers. • How airline fees have turned baggage into billions 'It's actually going to be more damaging for consumers,' said Yvonne Moynihan, Wizz Air's chief corporate and ESG officer. 'Fares are going to be driven up because we're going to have to price fares to include the price of the luggage.' Robert Boyle, a former British Airways executive and now an independent analyst, agreed that the main effect of the EU's proposed changes would be to drive up headline fares. But he empathised with Brussels' ambition. 'It is hard not to have some sympathy from a passenger point of view,' he said. 'It is mostly a trick to generate a low headline price with almost everyone paying for the carry-on in practice — or, to put it another way, a bait-and-switch commercial strategy. 'A few people who are willing and able to travel without cabin bags will end up being forced to pay a higher price.' However, easyJet is not convinced. It reckons 40 per cent of its customers travel only using the under-seat bag, for instance. Meanwhile, IATA, the global airlines trade body, said 'consumer research tells us that the majority of travellers want to pay the lowest price possible'. Spiralling fares are just one potential consequence of the EU reforms. Another is that flight punctuality could deteriorate as turnarounds — the change-over period when a plane lands and is prepared for its next flight — are slowed down. 'Before wheelie bags were rationed, low-cost airlines suffered chaotic turnarounds,' said Andrew Lobbenberg, transport analyst at Barclays. 'Carry-on bags were being moved at the last minute, creating slow turnarounds, delays and dissatisfied passengers. 'Turnarounds would [also] become more challenging as the aircraft do not have enough overhead bin space for all passengers to bring wheelie bags on board,' he added. Evidence from easyJet appears to corroborate this. Before the airline began charging for cabin bags in 2021, handling luggage that could not fit in overhead compartments because they were full was one of the main causes of delays. Since then, cabin baggage-related delays in offloading passengers are understood to have fallen by 94 per cent. There is also aviation's carbon footprint to consider. With all passengers empowered to bring two items of luggage on board, aircraft weights would rise, leading to additional fuel consumption and greater carbon emissions. • Hand luggage: Ryanair, easyJet and British Airways policies explained A final complexity is that Brussels' reforms, should they come into force, would not necessarily apply to all flights. The current proposals affect EU and non-EU registered airlines that fly out of the European bloc. But they would apply only to EU-registered aircraft flying into the EU. This means that the rules would not apply to domestic UK flights or to flights from the UK, for example, into the EU. Passengers would benefit from the free cabin bag rule on their return to Britain, however. It is ripe for confusion. The prospect of the changes — and the fallout from them — has raised the hackles of Willie Walsh, the former British Airways boss who now heads IATA. 'When regulators meddle in commercial or operational issues they don't understand, they usually get it wrong. If EU parliamentarians insist on regulating where regulation is not needed, they should be prepared to take responsibility for its negative consequences,' he said. The saving grace, as with so many EU reforms, is that progress on passenger air travel rights is likely to be glacially slow. The changes to baggage regulations are a late addition to a wider overhaul of passenger compensation — known as EU261 — that has been in the works since 2013. In addition, the move would contradict existing European laws that give airlines the freedom to set their own pricing. This, industry leaders say, leaves the door open to a protracted legal challenge. Furthermore, the proposals would need to be ratified by individual member states. The complexities around this were highlighted when Spain suspended its own proposals to outlaw cabin baggage fees late last Thursday. Experts are split as to why the EU proposals have not hit the share prices of major listed budget airlines. Lobbenberg said: 'The market has not reacted clearly to this issue, I think, because it is highly unclear what comes next. While consumer organisations are pushing hard to outlaw wheelie bag fees, the member states agreed to allow them.' But another senior industry executive said: 'I think that with all the geopolitical tensions, and associated increases in oil prices, these proposals have just been missed.' Whatever the reason, for now, airlines are monitoring the situation carefully — not to mention grumpily. 'What's next? Mandatory popcorn and drinks as part of your cinema ticket?' said Ourania Georgoutsakou, managing director of trade body Airlines for Europe.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Top seed Pegula eases past Swiatek to win Bad Homburg title
BAD HOMBURG, Germany, June 28 (Reuters) - Top seed Jessica Pegula contained Iga Swiatek's heavy topspin game on grass to earn a 6-4 7-5 victory on Saturday and lift the Bad Homburg Open title. The American held serve throughout and gave up just one breakpoint in the match, denying the Pole her first career title on grass, just two days before the start of Wimbledon. Pegula won a break at 3-3 in the first set to move 5-3 up. The 31-year-old world number three, chasing her third title of 2025 and her first since April, landed the first set soon afterwards when the Pole sent a forehand long. Swiatek put up a fight in the second set, edging close to a break but failing to carve out a break point. It was Pegula who earned a breakpoint at 5-5 and she converted it with a sizzling crosscourt forehand. Pegula held serve to seal her second career title on grass, following last year's win in Berlin.
