Arqiva signs three-year football deal with IMG Media

Communications infrastructure and media services company Arqiva has signed a new three-year contract with IMG Media to distribute Barclays Premier League globally in HD.

Arqiva will provide the encoding, encryption and satellite capacity and says it has implemented new distribution technology that will allow it to transmit at a higher bit-rate, without the need to increase satellite bandwidth –the equivalent to a 15% improvement in efficiency.

Arqiva has already provided distribution services for live Barclays Premier League matches and supplementary programming for IMG Media for the past six seasons. Under the new deal, Arqiva will be the sole distributor of approximately 190 live fixtures globally per season.

“Working with IMG and the Premier League since 2007, we have provided valuable and trustworthy continuity, while persistently delivering new levels of technical innovation.  Arqiva is proud to work with IMG to support the global distribution of the Barclays Premier League,” said Barrie Woolston, managing director of satellite at Arqiva.