Qatari international news channel Al Jazeera has made preliminary contact with France Telecom-Orange about acquiring TV channel Orange Sport, reports Le Parisien. Al Jazeera is also bidding for broadcast rights to France's Ligue 1 football championship for the 2012-2016 seasons. Orange's director of new growth activities, Xavier Couture, confirmed to the daily newspaper that he received a one-page letter from the broadcaster during the week of 13 June, and described Al Jazeera as an "extremely serious" interlocutor. He said that no meetings had taken place, but that he was interested in holding talks. Orange has other options. According to Le Parisien, two French groups are prepared to step in to help Orange divest its sports channel. The French football association was initially considered a natural choice to buy Orange Sport, and even US sports channel ESPN showed interest, according to local press reports. France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard told Le Parisien last November that TF1 and Canal Plus were potential buyers. Since then, Orange has reached a deal with Canal Plus to run its other premium TV service, Orange Cinema Series, as a joint venture.
