Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

l believe it will be part of XL as Virgin have to much to lose if that does not happen.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

BT won't care what's popular for VM. They'll care about getting the most money from other platforms for the games they brought. Now, if that's as part of XL, great. If not.... :td:

As you suggested, its all speculation at this point. And without speculation life would be boring, no? ;)

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Imagine if sky say to BT..we will give you access to our platform..exclusively

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

I'm sure they'd like to draw more customers but you have to remember that both Sky and VM have well established platforms with lots of additional features like TiVo, HD channels access to all Sky Sports & Movies channels and so on.

BT Vision is a glorified freeview box with far less content than either Sky or Virgin and I can't really see the offer of 38 Premier League games making many subscribers switch from Sky or VM but they may encourage new subscribers to join.

Maybe in the future when more homes get BT Infinity and more people adopt Internet TV then maybe they will have a bigger draw but whilst the vast majority continue to use linear channels then Sky will always be king with VM second and BT a fair way behind.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Thats not going to happen in a million years.:)

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

ESPN Statement

We made a strong bid that reflected the value of the rights to our business, and we thank the Premier League for the chance to participate," said an ESPN spokesman.

"We're looking forward to continuing our Premier League coverage next season, and continuing to serve fans with great live sports events and programming including the FA Cup, Europa League, Scottish Premier League, Serie A, Premiership Rugby, Top 14, golf, darts, UFC, NBA and much more."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18430036

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Money talks Den.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

There you go...they are already threatening subscribers..Scottish Premier League :D

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Wrong, BT made £2.4 BILLION profit the last financial year, that's double Sky's profit and 20 times Virignmedias.

Everyone seem's to think BT are small player who need to include there football on other platforms, they really don't. They have upto 80Mb fibre and now their own EPL football. They are a major player who probably need Sky but do not need Virginmedia.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Yeah, now, but that's going to change, and sooner than people think. They've been working on multi-casting linear TV content over their network for over a year now (cheaper than broacasting SS1 & SS2 over DTT) and as you say, in the future they'll be looking to take on both Sky and VM. They certainly have the funds to do that, as today's auction results has proved.

They already have plans to offer FX as a linear channel, along with some of the UK TV channels:
http://www.c21media.net/archives/80116

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Depending how BT market their new football channel I see VM becoming a sorry 3rd by the time this rights deal is over in 2016. You have to feel for VM they're getting it from all angles. BT Infinity equal or better, Sky TV better, I do wonder where Virgins future is going.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

BT will want VM on board. As MaverickJesus so eloquently and charmingly put it, BT will be 'whoring' the channel out to all and sundry to get a foothold. I think they will be a good partner for VM.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

What with VM dragging BT to offcom trying to force the price down for access to the poles and ducts, An BT trying to get offcom to give BT access to VM's network?

There won't be any favours here this is a million miles away from the ESPN-VM thing. Virginmedia need a big money backer, but with £6billion of debts I don't see it happening. Of course BT will need to be on the Sky EPG to keep advertisers happy after it is in 10 million homes.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

You say that as a Sky subscriber, Telly Bear, and clearly you have your reasons for wanting such a scenario to play out.

I don't see things that way at all. Virgin Media is in the middle of educating its customers to see TV in a different way, not relying so heavily on linear channels. There will be more VOD and video streaming in the future. Our content will probably be far superior to Sky's, who will continue to promote the sheer number of linear channels it has to disguise the poor quality of its content.

BT will be bouyed up by their success at getting football rights. Don't be surprised if you find that they get more into content in the future and start giving Sky a run for its money, although it seems to be heavily reliant on VOD at the moment, which I do not see as a bad thing. I look forward to seeing new BT options on my VOD selections in the future. This will be better value programming than Sky will ever provide.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Do i detect a slight Virgin bias old boy? :D

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

If either Sky or Virgin Media don't play ball with BT, they will be in serious financial trouble. VM will not be a pushover on price, and BT probably know it. We will get the channel, as BT have clearly stated.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

You say that as a Virginmedia subscriber;):D:D I do have Sky and in 2 weeks(ish) I will have my Sky fibre 80mb down/20Mb up broadband and I enjoy VOD via Anytime+ but I willalso look forward to BT VOD content on Sky.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Well there is certainly a lot of Sky bias lately on here and the master has a lot to answer for with his dark arts and educating of his fanboy minions.:D

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Ha, ha! Well, I'm with Virgin Media for a reason, so yes, this is my platform of choice.

I am not blind to the downsides though, and I do think that they need to make more effort to bring us the small number of additional channels that they know we want, together with more HD channels, and I also think they should get a move on with more VOD content and the video streaming that I have been talking about on and off for the last year or so.

But in my view, VM has a better future than Sky because cable is more compatible with VOD and streaming than satellite. Sky have done very well to get where they are and I don't hold back from recognising that, but I think the future is cable.

---------- Post added at 20:34 ---------- Previous post was at 20:33 ----------

I do not deny you your pleasures, Telly Bear! Enjoy!

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

I think my Sky 80Mbdown 20Mb up fibre connection will handle VOD fine as my current 16Mb Sky connection handles HD movies streamed from Sky anytime just fine.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Errrr what content is that ? VM is now just a reseller of content , a high percentage of which is BSKYB's ;)

Hopefully competition is good and it's nice to see another British company investing in content.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

VM will without doubt need to up their game in light of this deal as BT could become a serious alternative in the pay TV market. However this could also work out pretty well for VM as there is no doubt that BT will want VM to carry their channel so will have access to this.

Sky won't really want a third major player in the pay TV market and may actually do another of their sneaky tricks by allowing VM access to Sky Atlantic, Sky Sports 3, 4, F1 & News in HD, etc. Thus in effect increaing Sky's advertising revenue and at the same time making VM the second most attractive option after themselves in terms of content in the hope that they can wipe out the potential competition from BT Vision.

It'll be an interesting time ahead following today's deal.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

The smartest companies collaborate with enemies when it makes financial sense to do so - http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/59...ntrol-vms.html

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I can't help thinking that ofcom have decided that the packages have to be split, meaning that the cost of the rights have been inflated and subscription prices will, inevitably, rise. When will the authorities learn that competition is supposed to be a good thing for the consumer, not the already fat Premier League. I await a statement from Virgin with interest, as well as further details from BT as to their plans, but f1 had been edging me towards subscribing to Sky Sports, and today's news might just be the final nudge. We'll see.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog...-bt?CMP=twt_gu

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Hey folks BT have bought a better package than I thought. They have got 18 of the 38 top pick matches. Previously Sky have had all the really big games.

This makes BT's bargaining position much stronger if they have nearly half the games people really want to see.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Can't see 38 games a season making a sports channel for BT

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

"Setanta Sports, which had a similar model, struggled to sign up 1.2m, about 700,000 short of the number it needed to break even – and the Irish broadcaster was paying only £2.8m a game, far below BT's £6.5m. ESPN, incidentally, paid £2.3m a game."

From the same page.
Looks like £20 per month is more likely if they've paid double.

A deal like with ESPN and Setanta looks very unlikely for Virgin.

These weren't PPV rights so that won't be happening.
It's the EPL who would decide if they were to be sold as PPV not the broadcaster.


Its the same scenario with Formula 1 and Sky managed to justify a channel of it's own.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

It's not even going to be a sports channel. From BT's own press release:

"We will launch a new football-focused channel"

So what other football rights could they land as I can't see football fans being excitied about having to subscribe to a channel offering 1 live game per week. As far as I'm aware most competitions such as the FA Cup, League Cup, The Championship, SPL, Champions League and Europa League are locked down for the next 3 to 5 years. I'm not sure what the current contract positions are for home national internationals.

I noticed ESPN suggested today they will continue on, which is exactly what a company in their position should say. They've still got subscriptions to sell over the next 12 months. I suspect they might reconsider their position nearer to losing the Premier League rights. Maybe they'll either pull out of the UK and sell their rights to BT or split some of their rights with BT.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

BT are loaded compared to Setanta, and I'm sure BT (and ESPN) have learned from the numerous mistakes Setanta made.

No way will they charge £20 per month, not when SS1 (by itself) is a lot cheaper from VM and offers a lot more sport.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Yeah but SKY aren't trying to charge extra for it as a stand alone channel. SKY don't just show the race, they also broadcast the qualifying and have various shows during the week building up to each race. To pad their football channel out, BT would need to show both teams training through the week live and have coverage of the away teams bus journey to the home teams ground etc...

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

well one thing for sure we be paying lot more to get all the games and bet the extra money will go on players wages as usual instead of lowering ticket prices

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

ESPN still have FA Cup and I think Europa League. Plus German football which (tonight included :)) is actually very watchable and on par with the EPL for entertainment value.

They also have, for better or worse, some SPL. ;) ....I suspect VM will have a chat with them and say "well......you've lost like, ALL of your EPL games after this upcoming season so we'll like to reduce the money we give you. Ta."

---------- Post added at 23:00 ---------- Previous post was at 22:57 ----------

....and feature what music each player listened to their iPod on the way to the game and what they like to eat and what video games they like to play after the game and what their high score was in Call of Duty.

That would pad things out nicely. Until the Monday after the game. :)

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

It's not the same , Sky Sports F1 is an additional channel on VM for Sky Sports subscribers as on Sky , it's also available on Sky for customers taking the HD pack , I will not be paying the £10 a month the Guardian is speculating for just those 38 games unless they add more content at least now with ESPN you get ESPN , ESPN classic , ESPN America inclusive on XL with VM or £9.00 through Sky.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I agree entirely, but, if they are getting half the big games i.e. one of the City v United one of the Arsenal v Chelsea one of the Everton v Liverpool etc. etc. it could be interesting especially if they could get some other decent content which, as has been pointed out, may not be just sport.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Seems BT are manouvering themselves to become big players:

"BT already has a TV service delivered over broadband connections through a set-top box. It says it will also be launching a “football-focused” channel for its games and will aim to provide access from “as many platforms as possible”. It will even entertain sub-contracting the rights back to Sky but BT will not be a benign bedfellow: it aims to use football to become the nation’s predominant media presence."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...lion-deal.html

Also noticed some interesting announcements on BT's news and media site including National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, FX channel, Watch, Gold and Alibi all launching soon as linear channels. Lets see what BT do over the next 12 months. Looks like the pay TV market is about to become more competitive. Now would be the perfect time for Virgin to signal their intent by agreeing deals for all the non-SKY missing HD channels.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I'd be happy if Virgin got Sony Movies, some of the missing music channels, Al Jazerra etc

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Can't disagree with you there. I'd also like to see more On Demand content.

I've noticed in the past Virgin and BT have a tit for tat mentality, especially when it comes to broadband. One company makes and announcement regarding their prices for broadband going down or speed increasing then within days the other fires back with their own alternative deals etc....

Let's just hope this major announcement from BT regarding TV rights pushes Virgin to make some announcements about their own TV offerings. Seems very unlikely though:( I'd say this is the start of BT becoming a very credible alternative to Virgin.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I can see ESPN making a play for full premiership/european rugby rights, and perhaps some of the NFL when that gets renewed.

I have no idea what BT are going to fill out the rest of their schedule with, mind.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

But are those games worth £10 a month or would it be better just to go down the local and buy a coke or a pint and watch be best games for £3.50?

---------- Post added at 07:07 ---------- Previous post was at 07:05 ----------

Well ESPN have stated they made a serious offer so they must have 1 or 2 hundred million pound they had ear marked for EPL that's now freed up.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Remember that the speed you receive with FTTC, whomever the provider, is dependent on how far you are away from the fibre cabinet (I'm very close to mine so usually see 74Mbit/17Mbit on both connections). One possible reason to avoid Sky for fibre broadband, unlike their ADSL product in certain areas, is because Sky make the use of MER for authentication compulsory hence customers are currently forced to use the Sky router in the chain of equipment.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I certainly won't pay approx. £10 for a BT "football focused" channel. I wouldn't have ESPN if it didn't come with xl, and that's despite the fact that it offers 4 channels and MLB, but it's inclusion on xl has saved me from wanting to subscribe to Sky Sports and I suspect Virgin will feel the need to do what they can to offer this channel to their xl customers either for free, or at least at a reduced rate. I'm not sure, given the amount BT have paid for the rights (and I consider this to be more about driving you view than BT Vision, Btw) that they'll be able to achieve this. You then have to consider that Sky Sports, with three times the football, f1, two hd channels and 5 channels full of 24/7 sport content would be much better value at just under £30/ month than a stand alone BT channel at £10.

I can't get BT fibre optic in my area, they give no expected date and given that we're already heavily cabled I doubt we're much of a priority. Opening up rights sales to competition without ensuring that the end user is also able to benefit from competition doesn't achieve the intended consequence-which is a fair deal for the consumer. After all, it seems clear to me that it will now be BT's platforms, and not Virgin's, which will be the home of free Premier League football.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Yes, but as most people are mainly interested in the big games then it is either half of them for £10 with BT (and maybe some other goodies too) or half of them with Sky for £30 including HD. Choices, Choices.

ESPN's issue is which of the rights available would make a return for that kind of money. Would any of them persuade Virgin to renew their current XL pack deal?

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I see that Sky and BT won the rights for EPL rights, l don't know why BT got involved, they plan on starting up a new channel to accomadat the football, BUT why, the subs base is quite small compared to VM and Sky, total waste of money in my view.

---------- Post added at 10:29 ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 ----------

With all the hype going on about these contracts, Where does this leave ESPN, will there be continued coverage for the forseeable future or does it mean that ESPN will no longer show EPL.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

They've still got next season, BT (or possibly Sky, having sub let the rights, believe it or not!) start 2013-14.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Sky Sports News has managed to become the most popular sports channel without having any content. The club-specific channels appear to make a living, too. There's a market for this stuff.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Like a said a couple of years ago its becoming a content game rather than a broadband speed game. This is a major problem for Virgin now if Infinity is in the same area which it is for me it will have me looking over to BT. They are bound to being a offer of either free for Infinity user or minor add on price for the football now.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

This is a good point, BT can't really charge much for just 1 live game a week on a channel but bundling it free with a BT-Infinity connection with phoneline which will retailfor around £35-£40 could pay off. Setanta over paid but never had anything else to offer.

BT Really are going to change the pay TV landscape and personally I feel it will hurt VM the most.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Virgin need to come out swinging. They bet big on broadband speed and for the forseeable future its much of a plateau as in while I expect speeds to increase but theres going be no real gain as there no real need now for faster broadband speeds. With the 100mb connection I have 2 people streaming netflix, someone on Onlive, Console gaming / streaming and normal internet use all going at the same time and there are no problems. It will be interesting how Virgin come out after this. While Tivo is good for me its not killer as we are moving towards to a no cable box due to Netflix. If BT offer this football by legal streaming on a pay per match possible basis then that would be game changing.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Whether this changes the pay TV landscape we shall have to see but my hunch says that this will not change it as much as people imagine it will.:)

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Well with BT paying £700 million for EPL, then buying UKTV rights and now NatGeo channels and FX. You would be silly to think BT aren't out to become a serious player.

They are also actively in talks with other providers with this kind of investment they are going to want customers. Package all that with BT Infinity you have a serious alternative to VM and Sky.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Not trying to be funny so please don`t take that way.:)

Do you mean that they have brought the right to "show these channels" to add to there portfolio OR brought ( as in it`s mine) the channels .

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Well they have simply signed none exclusive carriage agreements to put those channels on their platform. The football they have the live rights as in ITS MINE and you can't have it.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Bollcks. Virgin are going to drop ESPN and get BT aren't they.

That means all ESPN covered Aviva Prem Rugby and baseball gone on Virgin.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Lets see what entails before before coming to conclusions on what might or might not happen.:)

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I like what was being said, BUT how can VM get BT on board for the football as it is a different broadcastor.

Its seems to me a bit stupid as BT do not have a large sub position to put in a bid for the football on its own, they need another broadcastor to help out with the money.

Could VM join forces with BT Vision to get football ?

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Virgin isn't the broadaster. It's the platform.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

It was revealed last night from sources close to French Football Weekly that ESPN UK will be showing Ligue 1 matches on their TV channel for the upcoming season. The news comes on the back of the new Premier League deal announced last night that saw ESPN lose the rights to show Premier League football from the 2013 season.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Thanks Den, lets hope ESPN find other matches to fill in the void. Although i thought the EPL games that they have now, including Kick-off times were not very appealling.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I cannot see ESPN America going any where so American sports fans should be catered for. It will be interesting to see whether ESPN go after the NFL rights which (Sky TV) had and expired after the Superbowl. They have Monday night Football already and supply Sunday and Monday NFL countdown on ESPN America.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

No I think from Summer 2013 we may see:

-BT Football TV (Working name) launching on Virgin TV as part of the XL Pack or pay extra channel.
-ESPN will sign an new deal with Virgin Media with ESPN America HD launching but moving to pay-wall (Not on XL Package).

---------- Post added at 16:19 ---------- Previous post was at 16:14 ----------

With the way Scottish Football are going if the SPL do not vote to let the new Rangers into the SPL I think Sky Sports will walk away to save money for their half of the £3.2b EPL deal.

Then ESPN may pick up the 30 games per season that Sky has the rights to.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

l somehow cannot see them both moving to the pay-wall MB as they need to keep the XL pack as competitive as possible because if they did remove these extra channels that would weaken this pack significantly and then one suspects all hell will break lose with some members on this forum.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

for any users in Republic of Ireland. Setanta will be broadcasting 33 live 3pm games next season

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

BT plans to make a dedicated Premier League channel available across a wide network of platforms, including Freeview and YouView, following its shock acquisition of rights to 38 games a season.

Free-to-air homes will be able to enter an unlock code to access the subscription channel, which will be broadcast via DTV as well as broadband. BT is yet to confirm pricing for its 38-match-per-season package.

BT, which yesterday agreed a three-year deal to pay £246m per season for Premier League rights, is keen to ensure wide distribution for the channel and is understood to have kicked off initial talks about wholesale deals with platform providers Sky and Virgin Media.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I also read elsewhere, that they were yet to decide what to do, by a BT spokesman.

Best we wait and see

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Media Boy, Can you please clarify something for me, as l am getting confused.

ESPN will lose the EPL rights to show games from 2013, as BT Vision will take over, are you saying that VM will join up to with BT Vision to show those games with a BT Vision channel going onto the VM network on the XL package.

As l believed that VM and BT vision were separate broadcasters.

Keep up the great work you do.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Everything is speculation, i rule nothing out until it happens

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I think we will see ESPN continue in the XL pack but we will get ESPN America in there as well to keep their sub payment up, I Think BT Sports will be an extra subscription like the Pay per view Season ticket we used to get on Setanta which so long as it is resonably priced (£6 a month)... but i'll tell you what, if we don't get it in HD i won't be paying extra for it, i remember how crap and blocky the Setanta coverage was.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Actually, yes, Sky isn't going to fall behind after all as it switches to a cable system to catch up with Virgin Media! There will soon be no need for satellites in respect of TV!

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

BT need to get a HD channel of there sports channel that was Setanta's biggest let down HD is becoming standard now its what we expect and without it I for one wouldn't subscribe

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

Sky isn't switching to a cable system OB, their TV will still be delivered by satellite. They will simply be able to offer access to BT's fibre optic broadband (Infinity) giving their customers the option of speeds equivalent to VM. This will obviously allow them to expand their VOD / interactive content to customers.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

I've found 20p down the side of my sofa. I could buy Scottish Football with that, and still have change. :(

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

The two questions I have are

1. Does ESPN have any kind of future in the UK?
2. Do you know anybody who has got BT vision?

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football
 

For every 20p you spend on a scottish fitba team I'll spend 40p ;)

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

yes if people take an interest in leagues around the globe other than the EPL. Ligue1 should be interesting. Budesliga, Serie A, other leagues around Continental Europe. South Americas league. Variety which is great why do other countries get everything including 3pm kick offs but we dont manage to hold onto opportunities of variety! they need viewers who are interested. these leagues can be just that. the only downer is time of fixtures overlapping EPL fixtures.

My aunty had it but ditched it. she didnt have any complaints i dont think she just decided to switch. this was a while back.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

1. Yes, ESPN will invest in other areas. They are here for the long term

2. No

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Bet you will from 2013

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

BT Vision will increase but not that much I think. They need plenty more content than the Premier League to launch a Football Channel.

Personally I think this is geared up for another ITV Sports Channel/Setanta situation further on down the line.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Firstly, l think that £1.00 would buy Rangers as l don't think any club in Scotland is worth much more.

I might be old and grumpy, but l cannot understand why BT Vision got involved in the bidding for EPL rights in the first place.

I know that Sky and ESPN have interest in BT Vision, but the only one that is going to make money will be ESPN, VM and Sky as they will have to buy from BT, am l right.

And then we will get stitched up as customers.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

We have no idea what BT's strategy is for the next 4 years and BT wouldn't of accidentally paid out £700million + on football rights. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

---------- Post added at 23:34 ---------- Previous post was at 23:28 ----------

Satellites are a very cheap way of covering a massive area for distributing Tv channels.

Cable systems are just to expensive to maintain, expand, upgrade and are to open to interference/noise issues. The also have a very big carbon footprint.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I wonder if ESPN will go for the Champs League matches now. When are them rights up for renewing?

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

l think thats a couple of years away yet.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Ticket prices will never lower the extra money generated has already been well spoken of as going on "wage inflation".

Also on a separate point Virgin Meida may well have to do a deal of the wholesale kind it done for Setanta/ ESPN with BT for the matches,as i cannot see many VM customers forking out a tenner for an extra 38 games,in much the same way ESPN/setanta relealised to get any meaningful viewing figures on VM they would have to wholesale the channels..:)

I can see sky sports subs going up again though to cover the vastly increased cost of EPL coverage.:(

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Doesnt anyone else think they have majorly overpaid for the rights and there is no legal live streaming option?

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I imagine that, with how the tiers of rights have been awarded, if there was something similar to the last day of the season just gone, that the 'Manchester United' game would be on Sky whilst the 'Manchester City' game would be on BT.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

There is no doubt they both overpaid for the rights but with Sky that simply had no choice as this has been the goose that has laid the golden egg for them for the last 20 years and with BT they obviously see this a good chance to grow their BT Vision share of the market but my question is have they really thought everything through before entering this lucrative but also extremely tricky market.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

The have only over paid if we the customer stop subscribing to the service's. Aslong as this deal give Sky/BT a profit no matter how small then the companys won't consider themselves to have over paid.

I see the problem as consumers now are at their maximum prices points for what they're willing too spend out on TV. Sky will probably recoup the cost plus a small profit on their rights, but BT? They have already stated they will take a £100 million hit in the 1st year.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

But they also make profits of £2.5 billion per year, and they'll make more money from their TV service once that's up and running

Still.....wouldn't be surprised to see BT's line rental charge go up, more than usual for the next annual price rise.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

An interesting read

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/n...-bskyb-rivalry

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Yes it is a interesting read and the next couple of years are going to be interesting to say the least MM.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Don't forget more people want to watch United than City.. if only to see them loose they will always be the bigger draw, 2010 - 2011 champions league figures showed more people tuned in around Europe to watch United than anybody else, including Barcelona.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

More people DID want to watch united than city, you do realise they just won the premier league???

Next season everyone will be wanting to watch every Man-city game. Of course me being a fan of the mighty Aston-Villa will be happy just to see my team occasionally live on telly.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

BT: We want SS1 & 2 in HD. For a true wholesale price.
Sky: No. Can we have your 38 EPL Games?
BT: No.
VM: Can we?
BT: Yes. If you give us access to your network.
VM: No.
BT: No EPL Games for you then.

......ok, probably won't happen......it would be kinda funny if it did :p:. ESPN meanwhile, would be sitting there, happy with the fact that they've saved over £738m and they can spend it on sport rights which are actually worth that kind of money.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

My feelings are that Sky will end up ok , due in part to the fact they have channels which BT will probably be very keen to add to their platform and the small fact that Sky's platform has 10.5 million potential customers to BT's sport channel , only guessing though.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

I need to see what the charge will be.

If similar to ESPN, i might go for it.

But to be honest, i am running out of hours to watch football (and tv shows i like)

So won't cry if i don't get them

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Do you know how many Sky customers actually take Sky Sports? As the viewing figures for Pl games seems to top out at at 2 million for the big games.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

My personnel view is that Sky won't have a problem with BT Vision, as there will be some agreement made.

I think the problem will be with ESPN and VM, ESPN will want EPL more desperately than VM, do to the fact that ESPN have got a settled platform now with football in the UK.

I think the major problem will be with VM, they will not want to pay the price for that one channel. Remember, we have a problem with Atlantic and Sky.

IF, BT Vision do a deal with BOTH ESPN and VM then that would be great, as l have said before BT do not have enough subs to cover the cost of the football.

They have jumped in just like Setanta.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

This is nothing like Setanta, Unless Setanta had a customer base of 10's of millions taking phoneline rental, phone calls, broadband packages that we didn't know about. Or unless Setanta secretly had a turnover of £Billions that no one knew about.


BT Have clearly stated they went for the EPL rights to give them some leverage towards getting Sky content on their own platform. If spending £700 million over 3 years not only gives them exclusive first pick EPL, Skysports 1-2HD, Skysports 3-4,Sky Atlantic on their own platform then its money very well spent.

I strongly suspect BT went in to get 3 packs and are not to pleased at only getting 2.

---------- Post added at 19:06 ---------- Previous post was at 19:04 ----------

I think 7 million Sky subscribers take Sky sports.

---------- Post added at 19:10 ---------- Previous post was at 19:06 ----------

I get a feeling BT's channel/games are going to be inclusive with Skysports pack. I just don't see any other way especially with BT wanting Sky's content. Also the wholesale price of Skysports will rise hurting VM if they want any EPL at all on their network.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

So nearly two thirds , I think on VM its about a million which is just over a quarter. So BT need to do a deal with Sky much more than they do VM.

Re: ESPN may lose EPL Football(Update)
 

Sorry AB but BT need to do deals with both Sky and Virgin because if they don't then their foray into this market is dead in the water before its even started.