Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Yeah, like Sky Atlantic!

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

At last something we agree on...;):D

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

You been drinking OB?.............

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

No, just a dream, Max, just a dream. :o:

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Does anyone know if Virgin Media intend to add the Olympics Channel to their channel selection?

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Not being in the know as with the vast majority of things l would say its extremely unlikely OB.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

I see rumours are suggesting the Sky Sports channels could be about to have a shake up amid increased pressure from competition.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Any links MM?.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Sky+Sports+Shake+Up

Under Top Stories

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Thanks MM.

Does not say much though as its pretty light on detail.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

I'm only putting 2 and 2 together from a recent survey I completed.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

@SkyNewsBreak

Ofcom plans to force BT to cut the bills of its customers with standalone landline contracts by at least £5 a month

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Meaning BT now has to find this extra money elsewhere , expect them to try and recoup it through broadband , TV and wholesale agreement increases in my opinion.

---------- Post added at 10:08 ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 ----------

BT Sport 'set to win bidding war' to retain rights to broadcast Champions League

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...idding-9932287

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

So much for some saying sports rights were coming down in the hope it would reduce the cost of subscribing..

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

I believe people said there wouldn't be as large an increase as previous rights.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Well l am sure MM we will know soon enough but sports rights certainly won't be coming down IMO anytime soon...

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Interesting that Fox Sports in the USA have lost rights to the Champions League from the 2018/19 season.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymc.../#510289f324e4

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

And the winning bidder paid twice as much as the current incumbent.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Overseas though Den , so by that reckoning your estimating the new deal over here should be just shy of £2 billion.;)

Let's not forget BT could quite easily payout £1 billion this time and end up paying less by letting a terrestial broadcaster have access to so many games for a set amount of money.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Now now MM stop putting words into my mouth.;)

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

BT chief attacks rampant price rises for TV sports rights

https://www.theguardian.com/business...ampions-league

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

And yet them like Sky will still bid outrageous amounts one suspects.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Boxnation joins the Eir Sports package in Ireland

http://www.eirsport.ie/boxnation-joi...eir-sport-pack

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

BT retains rights to Champions and Europa League.

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/03/b...pa-league.html

BT Sport will remain the exclusive UK home of all UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League football, it was confirmed today.

Following a competitive auction process, BT has secured the rights until the end of the 2020/21 season that for the first time brings together exclusivity across all live games, highlights and in-match clips of both competitions. BT will pay around £394m each year for the rights

The UEFA Champions League is set to be even stronger from 2018/19, with a minimum of four participating teams now guaranteed from each of England, Spain, Germany and Italy, resulting in more games between the top European teams. Fans will also be able to enjoy UEFA Champions League ‘double header’ nights, as live matches will kick off at both 6pm and 8pm during the Group Stage.

BT will continue to show UEFA matches using the latest broadcast innovation and technology, with games made available in 4K ultra high definition with Dolby Atmos sound, and via the award-winning BT Sport App.

BT will enhance its social media coverage to reach new audiences, by making clips, weekly highlights, UEFA’s magazine show, and both finals available for free on social media. BT streamed both finals last year on YouTube for the first time, taking the number of people who watched BT’s live coverage of the finals to more than twelve million. The company will also seek to bring the best of the action to its large mobile customer base.

The company did not specify in its early morning announcement if free-to-air coverage will continue on BT Showcase, BT's Freeview channel.

John Petter, Consumer CEO at BT, said:
"We are delighted to have renewed these rights. The UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League are two of the best competitions in the world and we would like to thank UEFA for choosing us as their exclusive broadcast partner in the UK. The UEFA Champions League is due to get even stronger and we are delighted that fans will be able to enjoy two live matches a night for the first time.”

Guy Laurent Epstein, UEFA marketing director, said

“UEFA is delighted to have extended the relationship with BT Sport for a further three seasons, taking our partnership to 2021. BT Sport has proved to be an innovative broadcast partner, pushing the boundaries and covering the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League in new ways. BT have delivered strong audiences in the UK and we are excited about their future plans for the use of social media which will engage a growing fanbase that consumes sport in different ways.”

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

No surprise there as MM usually gets his facts right unlike this fool...:)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...otball-rights/

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bt-...-idUKKBN16D0ML

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Oh I'll happily admit when I'm wrong Den a 33% increase shows what a mad world we live in , I guess BT just couldn't afford to lose the rights to it's main competitor as I said it's portfolio would have looked particularly weak without it.

More subscription increases coming to those who pay for it something I gladly don't.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

And worse is to come when the Premier league rights come up for auction as Sky are preparing a mighty big war chest for that one.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Thankfully Den I'll soon be without both if I'm not offered a half price deal like I'm currently on put simply I'm no longer prepared to pay full price for either Sports channels.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Well we have a deal which gives us a good discount and when our contract is up then a phone call to them awaits.

The thing is that many will still fork out the dough for it MM IMO as if sports fans are prepared to fork out £20 for a average night of boxing then many of them will still continue to fork out £40 to £50 for a full months sport subscription.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

£40 to £50 for both ?

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Sorry but not including the boxing.:)

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

I agree the rights were overpriced in the first place however a 33% increase does not seem so much considering the 2 kick off times, 6pm & 8pm in effect gives viewers double the content in the early stages. Guaranteed* double headers featuring English clubs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

*Remember that from 2018, all 4 English teams will qualify automatically with no qualifying round any more for the 4th place side.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Yes I see and agree with your point , I do think the Champions League could do with a well overdue shake up though like some other people have commented it's become a little dull. What exactly that shakeup needs to be I'm not sure.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

I'm well in favour of the double headers, particularly the 6pm kick off because as someone who works nightshifts I often miss out on seeing matches all the way through. I am however surprised BT have won exclusive rights again being that UEFA were so disappointed with the viewing figures in this country not so long back. I guess in the end money talks!
I hope BT keep the free-to-air channel and offer it to Freesat's viewers too. I'd like to see them improve it somewhat though, perhaps make it a sports news channel when not showing live games? Or a classic games channel. Whatever they do they must make more people aware of it.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

The BBC is stating that there will be no highlights package on ITV either.http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39177581
Will be interesting to see how BT can grow the audience . It would appear all UEFA are interested in is the money and not the product.:rolleyes:

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Exactly.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Well at least I can see the funny side after spending the last few years reading certain forum posters and journalists go on and on (and on and on) about how UEFA are not happy about viewing figures and how BT will loose the rights etc..

Well finally we can put that one to bed now.

Money talks! :D

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

To be fair I'd say the majority of the posting on here has been relatively balanced , sure there's been reference to Champions League viewing with links to articles but as for BT losing the rights I'm not sure that was ever in doubt.

The CL rights are clearly more important to BT Sport than they are to Sky Sports.

Forgot to add whilst the price BT have paid has increased it would appear they now have complete control. Haven't Murdoch's newspapers got the mobile goals rights currently ?

When you break it down with BT's ownership of EE it can now sell these rights across the many millions of people who subscribe to EE's mobile service.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Although the BT chief does contradict himself with this statement as posted by you a little while back MM.

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...postcount=6921

---------- Post added at 16:18 ---------- Previous post was at 15:36 ----------

Talk Talk sadly in the news again..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39177981

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

BT's £1.2bn Champions League splurge is price of staying in Sky game.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...premier-league

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

SKY shows their 5th Premiership game on SKY Sports Mix last Saturday being Manchester United Vs. Bournemouth. They have now announced their 6th. West Bromwich Albion Vs. Arsenal on 18th March.

At this rate they'll end the season showing about 10 games. Pretty decent for those who don't subscribe to SKY Sports.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Yes quite good as you say but for me the really good thing is getting to see the games in HD for no extra cost!

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

I'm the same. I refuse to pay the HD charge for sky sports. It's HD! It's been out years. The original excuse for sky doing it was the cost of new technology. I refuse to pay even more for sky sports then all I get is a clearer picture... thieves

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

It costs more to broadcast in HD , Blu Ray is generally more expensive than DVD , many of the PPV streaming options charge more for HD. You may not like it but for now it's here to stay.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Sorry that doesn't wash with me anymore! It might of been the case once over but now it's just an excuse for greedy companies to screw more hard earned money out of us!

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

What do you mean it doesn't wash those are facts , you may not like them but they are facts.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

But he is right though in that HD is very common now and the greedy companies are stiil bloody ripping us off.

---------- Post added at 10:20 ---------- Previous post was at 10:18 ----------

Yes they would say that would they not? but it does not mean we should believe them MM.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Where exactly are these facts? When HD was first introduced I can see it being costly but as time goes on costs come down BUT sky haven't reduced their charge for HD at all or not by much anyway.
Interestingly Sky no longer charge extra for HD cinema channel 's but not sport? Muppetman if you want to believe that Sky aren't ripping us off by charging extra for HD then that's your prorogative.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

As has been pointed out by others over on DigitalSpy, getting Sky Sports on Sky in HD is pricey compared to SD. Not only do you need to get the base pack, you also need to get the boxsets pack and pay the HD fee.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Another example of Sky ripping customers off mate! But all I want is for Sky to drop the HD charge and I'd be happy.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

I'm not sure why you mention Sky when just about everybody else is charging extra for HD.

As I say HD costs more be it broadcasting , server storage etc. None of us want to pay it but HD does cost more.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Like everything once it becomes widespread and popular things generally become much cheaper MM and HD is no different to anything else in that respect.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Agreed allowing for additional HD On Demand content and HD linear channels to launch. The range of HD content is far greater than launch.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

But it will ALWAYS cost more to deliver HD than SD. More data = more cost.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

I only mentioned Sky because we were referring to Sky Sports originally but as for others charging extra for HD,well they're just copying Sky and jumping on the money making train! And as for others charging extra,not all do ( BBC,ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5,and VIRGIN!).

---------- Post added at 13:09 ---------- Previous post was at 13:07 ----------

But don't we pay MORE than enough through our subs to absorb those small costs?

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

More but not enough to rip customers off though SP...

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

TV Live‏ is reporting that:

BT Sport secure the rights to show British Speedway after Sky Sports cancel their contract.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Well l am sure that Sky will be shaking in their boots at the loss of that MB.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Any motorsport is not my own cup of tea - just reporting what TV Live is saying.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

S4C signs sub let deal with Sky Sports for Wales Football games.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wa...shown-12710672

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

It is fair to point out, though, that we don't pay subscription fees to BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

But if you dislike paying for HD, I think you will probably be doubly disappointed when we find out how much the UHD channels will be. Particularly Sky Sports UHD! :Yikes:

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 may charge advertisers an HD fee for all we know. As we don't pay for these channels directly, we don't know.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Don't be surprised if Sky charge the earth for UHD.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

True, but this doesn't affect the TV audience.

Although advertising costs are reflected in the price we pay for goods and services, companies have advertising budgets. The likelihood is that the companies who place TV commercials will simply change their advertising strategy within their allocated budgets rather than spend any more overall.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

ITV happily take subscription money for their HD versions 2,3,4 likewise so C4 with E4 HD.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Scottish football set for record TV deal as BT Sport aim to go it alone.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/f...rd-tv-10037147

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

It's still peanuts!

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

l am sure a man of your worldly wealth can put a few pennies in if need be.;)

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Complete BS, put about by the people in charge of getting the best deal for Scottish football. We'll see what happens but this kind of nonsense has been "leaked" before and turned out to be exactly that.

The £31M figure is probably the best they could hope for from either Sky or BT but it's based on a valuation from a company that went bust based on the crazy money they offered. The problem for Scottish football is that outside of Celtic and Glasgow Rangers (2012) most other clubs fan's won't pay much for live football.

English premier league gets this almost per match so it's all laughable.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

The problem I find is that Scottish football matches are nearly always up against English football matches and most people choose to watch the English matches. If they were on at a time when no English matches were on then maybe they would get more people watching?

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

https://www.ft.com/content/9220b274-...1-5e720a26771b or google the headline in bold

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

And ITV and the BBC are going to compete with Sky and BT's financial power? as they won't want any games on terrestrial TV.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Pay TV can ask for exclusitivity but they won't get it. Cricket is losing out in popularity and this is driving the need for some FTA coverage.
“We have no ambition to be the richest, most irrelevant sport in this country,” said Mr Harrison, adding: “Have we been having conversations with free-to-air ? Absolutely . . . Am I convinced they will be at the table? Yes.”

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Well we shall see as l am yet to be convinced Andrew.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Would be nice if we get some fta cricket again, but I think the ecb would be better off chucking the ashes rights fta. I think the country will be much more interested in that rather than the t20, but there again I am much more of a purist when it comes to cricket. I also think they will make more than enough in ad revenues if they stick the ashes fta.

I know it'll never happen that way, but boy would it be nice.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

The ECB is saying it so I reckon they will. If they don't do it, cricket will die out eventually and they have to think of the long term.
I think the real question is how they define "some FTA coverage".

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Cricket won't die out, Andrew, it existed long before TV came along.

The fact is, it's more interesting and absorbing to play than to watch.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

True, I wasn't being literal, but by putting it behind a paywall it's become less popular at schools than other sports that have some FTA coverage. This is a potential long-term threat to the profile and importance of the sport if not addressed.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Yes, it's a pity that sports coverage is so concentrated on so few sports. That was the good thing about 'Grandstand', which was on the BBC every Saturday afternoon. We got to see horse racing, wrestling, tenpin bowling and so on. I am really surprised that none of the terrestrials do this now, concentrating on those sports that do not get saturation coverage on Murdoch's sports channels. I am sure there is an audience for it.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Other sports said exactly the same Andrew.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

When does the current deal with VM and BT expire for the free channels in the Full House TV pack?

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Is it in about 18 months or perhaps a little bit less.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Thanks

So summer 2018 I can see a few moving on if they fail to renew the deal

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

As the old saying goes its if's , buts and maybes as to whether a new deal is agreed as BT have already forked out a extra £300 million for a continuation of the Champions League TV rights and they will be intent on getting more from any carriage deals they agree with other TV providers for those rights..

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

It depends on the economics of it all. If BT judge that they will benefit more from a wholesale deal with VM, rather than rely on the comparatively low numbers of VM subscribers who would pay to watch the BT Sports channels, they will want to continue the arrangement.

If BT hold out for more money, I think VM should demand that AMC be added to the mix!

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Do you have evidence or where they more rumours?

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Thing Boxing , F1 , golf and the list goes on and on and l think you know what l mean Andrew.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Sky Q unveils voice search and new features, making it easier to find and watch movies, shows and sports

https://corporate.sky.com/media-cent...ows-and-sports

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Some of this is a bit gimmicky, but I particularly like the My Q features.

I would not personally use the Facebook and speak options, but these will be useful for some.

I'm not sure whether VM have similar plans - I guess we will see.

---------- Post added at 10:51 ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 ----------

Thing Boxing sounds rather interesting... :D

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Given my uneducated status l am prone to spelling mistakes unlike your good self OB.:)

---------- Post added at 11:04 ---------- Previous post was at 11:03 ----------

Nice to see Victor is alive and well this morning.;)

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Ironically it's Tivo they are using for its voice search feature.
http://advanced-television.com/2017/...-voice-search/

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

7th live Premiership game of the season confirmed on SKY Sports Mix.

West Bromwich Albion Vs. Liverpool on 16th April.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Good find.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

All change

West Bromwich Albion v Liverpool on 16th April has been dropped and replaced with Middlesbrough v Arsenal on Monday 17th April

also Sunderland v Manchester United added on Sunday 9th April


Summary of PL games shown and scheduled on Mix so far

1. 22/10/16 Sat 12.30pm AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur
2. 17/12/16 Sat 12.30pm Crystal Palace V Chelsea
3. 11/02/17 Sat 12.30pm Arsenal v Hull City
4. 26/02/17 Sun 1.30pm Tottenham Hotspur v Stoke City
5. 04/03/17 Sat 12.30pm Man Utd v AFC Bournemouth
6. 18/03/17 Sat 12.30pm West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal
7. 09/04/17 Sun 1.30pm Sunderland v Manchester United
8. 17/04/17 Mon 8pm Middlesbrough v Arsenal

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Cheers for the info mate. Been fairly impressed with the football output on SKY Sports Mix in general. About 5 years ago it would have been unthinkable that SKY would be showing Premiership football and English Football games on a regular basis at no additional cost for subscribers without SKY Sports.

I don't have SKY Sports or BT Sports but I'm fairly content with the amount of "free" football on SKY Sports Mix, BT Showcase and terrestrial TV. Not always top games but happy to fill in the blanks with Match of the Day etc...

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

I'd say cheaper football rather than free. ;)

Been interesting to see what they are choosing to show on this. They seem to have focused on EFL first half of the season and EPL second half. Hoping for some English Cricket in the summer.

Have to say I have the Virgin Media XL pack and with BT Sport and Mix combined I'm pretty content with the 50 (maybe more) PL games, this season plus EFL and the CL.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

The Hearts VS Celtic game will be shown on Sky Sports Mix this coming Sunday at midday.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

A significant match too, as a win for Celtic will see them pick up the title.

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

l think the title was won before the season started Rich.;)

Re: ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news
 

Didn't Den say everything was hunky dory with Sky Sports subs ? How come they're giving so much away then without the need of a Premium Sports sub , answers on a postcard.