Kuala Lumpur – Sportfive has agreed a TV deal with Japan’s NHK to show weekly free-to-air coverage of the Barclays Premier League (BPL) soccer. NHK was the first broadcaster in Japan to deliver sports programming to the public. Under the deal, NHK will air BPL matches for the next three seasons. “We are very happy with NHK adding the matches of England’s top football league to their prominent sports content”, says Lars Heidenreich, Managing Director of Sportfive Asia. “Thanks to this cooperation, Japan’s many BPL fans will be able to watch their favourite Premier League clubs on free-TV.” “We remain very satisfied with Sportfive’s distribution of our rights in an important market,” explains Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive of the Premier League. “We welcome NHK to our circle of broadcast partners and are looking forward to working with them over the next three years.” NHK will compliment J Sports’ cable and satellite TV coverage of BPL in Japan. J Sports concluded a three-year deal with Sportfive Asia at the beginning of the season.