MUMBAI: After snapping up the lucrative English Premier League (EPL) broadcast rights in UK, BSkyB and BT have been awarded seven packages of live audio-visual rights for transmission in Ireland for three years till 2016.

The seven packages ? five of 26 matches and two of 12 matches ? totalling 154 matches were awarded on the following basis:

a) BSkyB has secured packages B, C, D, E and F, totalling 116 matches

b) BT has secured packages A and G, totalling 38 matches.

"We are extremely pleased that BSkyB and BT have invested in our live rights in the Republic of Ireland," said Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore. "We look forward to working with them and are confident they will broadcast the Barclays Premier League in a comprehensive and innovative manner that will showcase the competition to our many fans across Ireland."

Sky Sports MD Barney Francis said, "These rights mean that Sky Sports remains the home of the Barclays Premier League in Ireland. With more live matches than ever before, our Irish viewers can enjoy an unrivalled choice of the biggest and best games across Saturday evenings, Sunday afternoons and Monday nights.

"Sky Sports Irish viewers can enjoy Premier League football in HD, 3D and online as well as across mobile and tablet devices. Combined with our already unrivalled portfolio of sports, there has never been a better time to subscribe to Sky Sports in Ireland."

BT Chief Executive of TV Marc Watson said, "We are delighted that we?ll be able to offer viewers in the Republic of Ireland the same fantastic live games from the Barclays English Premier League that we?ll be offering in the UK. We?ve secured 38 live matches and 18 of them are the ?first pick? top-quality matches."

MUMBAI: BT Sport has signed a four-year deal with the Women?s Tennis Association (WTA) as it seeks to widen the appeal of its soon-to-be-launched sports channels, which is expected to debut this summer.

The BT Sport deal includes five elite WTA tournaments - Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing and Istanbul. During the 2013 season, the rights will be held jointly with previous holder Eurosport, but from 2014 will be exclusively owned by BT Sport.

BT Sport will show live matches from 21 WTA tournaments across the globe which adds up to 800 hours of live tennis per year featuring the best women players in the world, including the season-ending showpiece TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships.

BT Sport head Simon Green said, "This is our first women?s sport for the channels and we see a genuine opportunity to really develop the exposure for women?s sport with our new channels. We are focusing on several more women?s sports and we hope to be able to announce more rights soon.

"Women?s tennis is the highest profile women?s sport, attracting a global audience of 185 million viewers. It?s a good moment for the British women, with Laura and Heather starting to challenge for honours. We want to follow their story over the next few years, as well as showcasing the world?s best players in the tournaments that help determine their world rankings."

BT has chosen the iCity, the former International Broadcast Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, as the home of its BT Sport channels.

BT Sport will show 38 live games a season from the Barclays Premier League, including 18 of the top clashes, for three years from August 2013. The channels will also show 69 live rugby union games a season from the Aviva Premiership.