• The new Sky Sports F1 channel will also show GP2 and GP3 live. The two feeder series to Formula 1 run for the most part parallel to the main championship, with GP2 having 12 rounds and GP3 just the 8 rounds. Each weekend features two races, both of which will be live on the new channel. There is no news on fellow support series Porsche Supercup, so that is expected to remain on Eurosport.

• Sky have also confirmed that their Formula 1 magazine programme with Georgie Thompson and Ted Kravitz will be shown weekly.

• ITV are expected to release football commentator Peter Drury and co-commentator Jim Beglin after Euro 2012 this summer. Former Irish international Beglin has been steadily phased out of his duties over the last couple of years as Andy Townsend has become more prominent, while the decision to drop Drury is more surprising. With ITV’s Champions League coverage moving to Tuesday nights, it means number 1 commentator Clive Tyldesley can easily do that match before travelling to wherever for a Europa League game on the Thursday. As the channel will still need more than one commentator, they could still keep Drury on as a freelancer unless he moves to another network full time.

• Sky Sports will show the Tony Bellew v Danny McIntosh fight for the British Light Heavyweight title after promoter Dave Coldwell won the purse bids and joined forces with Matchroom Sport to provide a TV date. Bellew (right) is signed to Frank Warren Promotions, who are a major player behind the rival BoxNation channel. After the announcement this week, Bellew said: “It’s a dream come true to be back on Sky Sports.” Don’t think his promoter will be too chuffed after hearing that.

• The Super League season starts this weekend. The early list of live matches on Sky can be seen here.

• Interestingly, from May Sky will be showing their secondary live match per round on a Monday night rather than a Saturday evening. This is down to the channel wanting more live sport on a Monday once the football season has ended during the summer. The now-traditional Friday night slot will stay untouched.

• Two of England’s rugby matches in the Women’s Six Nations will be shown live on television this year, with a third available online with a free, legal stream. First, on the 25th February the game against Wales will be on the BBC red button at 6.15pm. On the 11th March, England’s trip to France will be on the Sky Sports red button service at 12.45pm, while their final match against Ireland will be live on the RFU website on the 17th March at 2pm.

Sky Sports and ESPN have confirmed the Aviva Premiership Rugby fixtures to be shown during rounds 18-20.

The three rounds cover the period between the end of this year’s Six Nations Championship and the quarter-final stages of the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup.

The standout fixture on Saturday 31st March sees Saracens take on Harlequins at Wembley Stadium on Sky Sports. A bumper crowd will be expected as the two sides currently sit at the top of the table, a considerable distance ahead of Northampton and Leicester.

A fortnight later, those two sides contest the East Midlands derby at Franklin’s Gardens on ESPN. It is always a feisty affair when the Saints meet the Tigers, and this match should be no different as they battle to secure a semi-final berth.

The live fixtures in full:

Sat 24 Mar	Harlequins v Bath Rugby	14:15	ESPN
Sat 24 Mar	Northampton Saints v London Wasps	17:45	Sky Sports
Sun 25 Mar	London Irish v Leicester Tigers	15:00	ESPN
Fri 30 Mar	Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors	19:45	ESPN
Sat 31 Mar	Saracens v Harlequins	15:00	Sky Sports
Sat 31 Mar	Bath Rugby v Northampton Saints	17:30	ESPN
Fri 13 Apr	Sale Sharks v Bath Rugby	19:45	Sky Sports
Sat 14 Apr	Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers	14:15	ESPN
Sat 14 Apr	Harlequins v London Wasps	16:30	ESPN

ESPN are introducing a new studio schedule for Sunday afternoons and evenings from the 15th January, incorporating various sports from around the world.

Obviously it will vary week on week depending on what is happening, but from around 1.30pm to 10.30pm every Sunday ESPN will have studio segments surrounding their live action. On top of pre and post-match analysis, Talk of the Terrace and Pardon the Interruption will be moving from Monday nights in to the new strand, which will work as a sort of modern-day Sunday Grandstand.

Football will be at the core of the schedules, as it usually is on a Sunday with action from Serie A, Bundesliga or the Scottish Premier League most weeks, plus occasional FA Cup and Aviva Premiership rugby action.

This is a good idea from ESPN, whose coverage of European football has often looked a bit cheap and naff without anything surrounding it. The idea of linking everything together following on from each other should work if they have decent pundits, and at least shows they are putting some effort towards it.

The live matches for rounds 14-17 of rugby union’s Aviva Premiership have been confirmed.

After a quiet month in January with the LV Cup and the closing rounds of the Heineken Cup group stage, the Premiership returns on the second weekend in February with Gloucester v Northampton the highlight.

Other big live matches over the period include Saracens v Leicester, London Irish v Northampton and Saracens v Northampton.

With the Six Nations Championship taking place at the same time, clubs will lose some of their international stars over this period.

Fri 10 Feb	Sale Sharks v Worcester Warriors	20:00	Sky Sports
Sat 11 Feb	Gloucester Rugby v Northampton Saints	14:15	ESPN
Sun 12 Feb	London Wasps v Saracens	13:15	ESPN
Sat 18 Feb	Bath Rugby v Gloucester Rugby	14:30	Sky Sports
Sat 18 Feb	Harlequins v Worcester Warriors	17:30	ESPN
Sun 19 Feb	Saracens v Leicester Tigers	14:30	Sky Sports
Fri 24 Feb	Worcester Warriors v Saracens	19:45	ESPN
Sat 25 Feb	Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins	18:00	ESPN
Sun 26 Feb	London Irish v Northampton Saints	13:15	Sky Sports
Fri 2 Mar	Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins	19:45	ESPN
Sun 4 Mar	Leicester Tigers v Gloucester Rugby	13:00	Sky Sports
Sun 4 Mar	Saracens v Northampton Saints	15:30	ESPN

Rugby Union’s Six Nations will remain on free-to-air television until at least 2017 after the BBC signed a new four-year contract extension.

With two years still left on the current deal, the BBC have secured the future of a tournament that they were under threat of losing following recent huge budget cuts. However, as with Wimbledon, which they also recently renewed, the broadcaster views the Six Nations as one of it’s ‘crown jewel’ sporting events that they desperately need to keep hold of.

The BBC will remain the exclusive broadcaster of the tournament-the biggest annual rugby event in the Northern Hemisphere-across television, radio and online.