euro news2005v3_news 23/05/2013 17:43 Page 1
BT
B
to offer free Premier League football
T has confirmed that customers to its broadband packages – not just its superfast BT Infinity product – will receive free English Premier League football when the telco launches its BT Sport channels in time for the start of the 2013-14 season. The telco also revealed it had reached agreement with BSkyB for its DTH satellite customers to continue to receive its channels. A deal for carriage on Virgin Media’s broadband cable network has not yet been agreed. Speaking at the launch of the service at BT Sport’s base in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, Marc Watson, BT Retail chief executive, said that BT was returning sport to grassroots fans. The initiative marks the first time in more than 20 years that weekly live matches from the Barclays Premier League will be free to watch. The three channels – BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN – will feature 38 live and exclusive football matches from the Barclays Premier League – including 18 ‘first pick’ matches – and up to 69 live rugby matches from the Aviva Premiership where BT will be the exclusive broadcaster. There will be live football from several other top leagues around the world including Germany, France, Italy and Brazil. There will also be FA Cup ties, the UEFA Europa League, Scottish Premier League plus WTA women’s tennis. BT also revealed it has added Moto GP, Women’s Super League football, Australian ‘A’ league football and action sport and lifestyle programming from Red Bull Media House. BT’s aim is to increase the number of customers enjoying high quality sports on TV. According to the telco, only one in five UK homes currently take a sports channel, possibly reflecting the high prices that have resulted from there being little real competition. By offering BT Sport for free with BT broadband, BT hopes to appeal to the vast majority of UK homes – more than 20m – who already have broadband as well as those who haven’t taken it to date. More than 5m homes already take their broadband from BT and whilst the company will be rewarding those customers with this free service, it will also be encouraging customers of other ISPs to switch supplier. To encourage people to switch, BT is offering new customers BT Infinity, its flagship superfast fibre product, from just £15 per month (€18) or copper broadband from just £10. If customers wish to take the channels without BT broadband, they will be available in high definition for £15 per month from BT via Sky’s digital satellite platform or for £12 in standard definition. Gavin Patterson, BT Retail chief executive, described the launch of BT Sport as “an important moment” for the UK TV market. “We will shake up the market which is great news for sports fans whether their passion is football, rugby or any of the other sports we will be showing. Fans will hopefully be cheering across the UK at the prospect of watching their favourite teams for free,” he predicted. BT Sport will be accessible direct from BT. It will be available via BT’s own TV service, Sky’s digital satellite platform and also online or via a new App enabling customers to enjoy the channels on the move or at home on their PCs, smartphones, tablets etc. Customers who wish to watch BT Sport on their TVs will require a set-top box. This will be a YouView or Vision+ box for BT TV customers or a Sky box if customers take the channels via Sky’s digital satellite platform. Watson also revealed that BT Sport would be aggressively targeting the ‘pubs and clubs’ market, suggesting that screening of free-to-air sport in that sector was 1.5 times greater than for premium events. He suggested that establishments taking BT Sport packages could achieve savings of up to 80% over Sky. In terms of carriage on Virgin Media, Patterson said that BT was open to wholesale deals, but no such agreement was yet in place. “It’s not a philosophical issue,” he said.
THE WRAP
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