The big news in Italy this week has been a seri꧅es of announcements regarding future TV broadcasting for MotoGP and ♛World Superbike.

MotoGP will move from Mediaset's free-to-air Italia 1 channel to Sky from 2014, with eight races broadcast free ea🗹ch season and the rest pay-per-v▨iew.

"We are glad we have reached this agreement," said Sky Italia CEO, Andrea Zappia. "It represents a new, decisive and important signal for subscribers who, in year🌳s to come, will be able to rely on one of the deepest-rooted sports event in Italians' hearts."

Mediaset meanwhile is switching its focus t💝o World Superbike, signing a three-year (free-to-air) deal for WSBK to be broadcast on Italia 1 from 2013, taking over the rights from La7.

"We have decided to switch our target to a very competitive and spect🌜acular championship, with bikes that enhance t🧔he battles between great riders and render the outcome of each race uncertain right until the very end," said Giorgio Giovetti, head of Sports Rights Purchasing for Mediaset.

"Superbike is a sporting contest whose value will be enhanced considerably thanks to the visibility guaranteed by Italia 1 a🎃nd by the technical and journalistic commentary of Mediaset's sports editorial team".

Italy's future MotoGP TV format will thus be similar to the UK'sꩵ F1 coverage. Starting this season a🌠ll F1 races are shown live on Sky, but with half of the races also made available free-to-air (via the BBC).

Some bel🍸ieve the future of sport broadcasting is direct from the commercial rights holder to the custom🐎er, using the internet.

But this will only replace (rather than compliment) the current format if the income generated - through subscription, on-screen ✨advertising etc - can exceed the combined amount being paid by the TV broadcasters to the rights holder.

Dorna already offers comprehensive pay-per-view live MotoGP cover൲age of every grand prix through MotoGP.com, while the BBC - for example - provides 'free' live MotoGP coverage for UK TV li💙cence holders (requiring use of a UK IP address) through its iPlayer service.

Eurosport offers𒉰 its MotoGP coverage online through a dedicated player, but it is also IP sensitive and requires a further subscription even for those already paying to receive the TV channel.

Ho🌜wever British Eurosport/🎃Sky subscribers (using a UK IP address) can watch the channel live online at no extra cost using 'Sky Go'.

Fuelled by decreasing𝔍 free-to-air coverage, numerous illegal websites offer liv🌳e TV broadcasts for free.