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91Èȱ¬ to broadcast its 2006 FIFA World Cup games live on broadband in the UK
The 91Èȱ¬ has signed an exclusive deal with Infront
Sports & Media, the company responsible for the worldwide marketing and sales of the broadcast rights to the 2006 World Cup, which will allow internet users in the UK to watch all the games online.
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All of the 91Èȱ¬'s TV games will be live and free-to-air with online viewers able to access the games at bbc.co.uk/worldcup and bbc.co.uk/sport - viewing of these matches will be restricted to those that live in the UK.
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All of the 91Èȱ¬'s group games will be available on these sites, as well as all the subsequent games the 91Èȱ¬ has in the knockout stages.
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The 91Èȱ¬ will also have the exclusive rights to England's second round and quarter-final games should they reach that stage.
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Furthermore, the 91Èȱ¬ has non-exclusive rights to short highlights from every
2006 World Cup game. There will be four-minute clips from all of the 64
matches available on-demand whenever users want to view them.
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For the 91Èȱ¬'s matches viewers will be able to stream the same coverage as will appear on terrestrial television. This stream will also feature the same commentary as on TV.
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Also, in addition to watching the games, online users will be able to hear and read about the latest action - 91Èȱ¬ Radio Five Live will have an audio stream from 2006 World Cup game and there will also be live minute-by-minute reports on every match written by 91Èȱ¬ journalists.
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Director of Sport Roger Mosey said: "Our audiences now expect to get 91Èȱ¬ Sport on television, on radio and online - and the World Cup on broadband is our biggest commitment yet to bringing people major events where and when they want them.
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"You can watch the World Cup from the 91Èȱ¬ at home
on TV - or listen in the car on your radio - and now also see full
live coverage on your PC.
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"We know a lot of online viewing is done in the office, so we suspect this will allow people both to do their job and to keep up with the very latest action from Germany."
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Director of Sports Rights Dominic Coles added: "The 91Èȱ¬ has great traditions in sport but we also want to be the most modern provider of content, and our move into broadband reflects this."
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The 91Èȱ¬ has successfully broadcast football over the internet before, but this is by far its biggest-ever single commitment.
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In 2005 the 91Èȱ¬ showed the final of the FIFA Club World
Championship Toyota Cup Japan between Liverpool and Sao Paulo online
to UK internet users.
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Similarly the 91Èȱ¬ also broadcast online all
the interactive streams from Athens 2004 Olympics.
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This latest deal follows this week's announcement that the 91Èȱ¬ will provide UK broadband users with access to five courts of live tennis action during the 2006 Wimbledon Championships.
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The service will replicate coverage from the 91Èȱ¬'s
live terrestrial coverage plus the remaining digital interactive
feeds.
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The 91Èȱ¬ already has the broadband rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
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Notes to Editors
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The full list of first-stage group games available online on the 91Èȱ¬ (all kick-off times are BST):
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Friday 9 June
Germany v Costa Rica, 5.00pm
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Saturday 10 June
England v Paraguay, 2.00pm Ìý
Sunday 11 June
Serbia & Montenegro v Netherlands,
2.00pm
Mexico v Iran, 5.00pm Ìý
Monday 12 June
USA v Czech Republic, 5.00pm Italy v Ghana, 8.00pm Ìý
Tuesday 13 June
South Korea v Togo, 2.00pm
France v Switzerland, 5.00pm
Brazil v Croatia, 8.00pm
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Wednesday 14 June
Germany v Poland, 8.00pm
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Friday 16 June
Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro,
2.00pm
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Saturday 17 June
Portugal v Iran, 2.00pm
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Sunday 18 June
France v South Korea, 8.00pm
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Monday 19 June
Togo v Switzerland, 2.00pm
Spain v Tunisia, 8.00pm
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Thursday 22 June
Czech Republic v Italy, 3.00pm
Ghana v USA, 3.00pm
Japan v Brazil, 8.00pm
Croatia v Australia, 8.00pm Ìý
Friday 23 June
Ukraine v Tunisia, 3.00pm
Saudi Arabia v Spain, 3.00pm Togo v France, 8.00pm
Switzerland v S Korea, 8.00pm
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LF/PD
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