Vivo Screensport is a sports channel available in Benelux, Germany, UK & Ireland, France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain. It is operated through Screensport LP, a joint venture between Vivo's owner Qualis (75%) and RTL Group (25%).
Screensport
Prelaunch
The pre-2018 logo
The 2018 logo, used on the website. It's a modified version of the former logo.
Around 2017 and 2018, the channel was planned to be revived by ESPN, RTL Group, Technicolor and TF1 with the participation of broadcasting companies HBO and CBS Corporation (and its Showtime Networks division), publishing company DC Thomson, telecommunications companies Sky, BT, Liberty Global and Cable & Wireless, retailer WHSmith, gambling company Ladbrokes Coral, and film production company Goldcrest Films.
ESPN, RTL Group, TF1, Sky, Showtime Networks and Goldcrest Films would be responsible for programming, while Cable & Wireless, HBO and Liberty Global, with Sky, would broadcast the channel worldwide; WHSmith and Ladbrokes Coral would handle the operations outside broadcasting: for example, merchandising and collaborations with lotteries and gambling companies around the world. DC Thomson would handle articles and sports-related news programming, and Technicolor would handle technical services, as well as broadcasting maintenance and related operations. The programming would mostly consists of such broadcasted by BT Sport, ESPN, CBS Sports and Sky Sports as well as original programming from RTL Group, Goldcrest Films and sports-related news and tabloid programming from DC Thomson.
In August 2018, Laserium-GBC Networks, Polar Night Inc, Gulf+Western and Lava Lamp Entertainment joined the project. By January 2019, they were all merged into Qualis. TGP Media-Networks' TPEN Sports joined the project at the same time, but left shortly afterwards after a fallout between shareholders of Polar Night Inc.
In November 2018, a consortium, consisting of WarnerMedia (which owns HBO), GVC Holdings (successor of Ladbrokes Coral), WHSmith, Liberty Global (who acquired Cable & Wireless, also a partner in the project), Comcast (who acquired Sky), The Walt Disney Company (which owns ESPN), TF1, CBS Corporation (who owns Showtime Networks, also a partner in the project), DC Thomson and Goldcrest Films; sued the project's own company Screensport LP and its remaining shareholders BT Group, RTL Group, Qualis and Technicolor. In the end, the project continued on as usual, as BT, RTL, Qualis and Technicolor won the case.
In December 2018, BT Group and Technicolor left the project. The channel was announced to not air in Switzerland and Sweden, for then-undisclosed reasons, being that the channel became part of Vivo, which was revealed a day before official launch.
Vivo Screensport
2019-present
On January 30, 2019, Screensport officially launched as part of Vivo. In July 2019, it launched in Italy, Switzerland and Spain.
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