Originally Posted by Chad (Post 35570055)

At the moment it looks like BT are happy to push on as they are. Wholesale deals are not essential.

Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35570067)

Bigger fools then l thought they were.

Originally Posted by Chad (Post 35570048)

http://www.digitaltveurope.net/54521...gin-talk-talk/

"BT Retail CEO Gavin Patterson said the firm was still open to doing wholesale deals for its forthcoming sports channels with Virgin Media and Talk Talk, but stressed its strategy wasn’t dependent on it.

Speaking at a BT Sport launch event in London this morning, Patterson said that talks were ongoing with Virgin and would “hopefully continue” in the coming weeks, but claimed it was difficult for the cable TV rival to do a “value proposition” until BT was able to announce details of its sport offering.

“We’ve had similar discussions with Talk Talk as we have with Virgin. Philosophically we’re not against, wholesale, we’d be open to it, it’s really about value – what our perception of the value of it is, and what their perception of the value is, and there’s a gap at the moment,” said Patterson.

Asked whether he could imagine a point where BT would simply walk away from wholesale discussions he added: “Our strategy is not dependent on wholesale. It’s not completely within our control – it’s whether or not we can find the right valuation between us and others. We couldn’t rely on it in that respect, so we’ve built a strategy, we’ve built a business plan that doesn’t necessarily depend on us wholesaling this.”


http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2013/...ort-goes-free/

"However, customers of Virgin Media and rival telco TalkTalk may not be able to receive it via their television services."

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news...ootball-115800

"There are currently no plans to bring the channels to Virgin Media’s cable service."

http://recombu.com/digital/news/bt-s...st_M11546.html

"There's no word on whether Virgin Media subscribers will be able to access the BT Sport channels but it's looking unlikely."

Mmmmm....... Doesn't look great for the likes of Talk Talk, Virgin or Smallworld. Basically any TV provider where BT can't sell directly to the customer.

Originally Posted by Chad (Post 35570070)

BT Retail CEO Gavin Patterson said “Our strategy is not dependent on wholesale. It’s not completely within our control – it’s whether or not we can find the right valuation between us and others. We couldn’t rely on it in that respect, so we’ve built a strategy, we’ve built a business plan that doesn’t necessarily depend on us wholesaling this.”

I don't think BT really care about the success of the channels, they want to use the channels as a tool to grow their own phone, broadband and TV base.

This could have major ramifications across all of pay TV for sports fans. I'm amazed they have zero plans to launch on Freeview.

Originally Posted by Top banana (Post 35570085)

Be interesting to see what Gavin says in a few months. They need a hell of a lot of customers to move from Sky and VM to cover the cost of setting up their sports offering. The investment community have given todays announcement a massive thumbs down which has led to a reduction of £6.60 off their share price.

The view is that this is aimed at getting Sky BB customers onto infinity and that the impact on VM will be minimal.

Originally Posted by Top banana (Post 35570085)

The view is that this is aimed at getting Sky BB customers onto infinity and that the impact on VM will be minimal.

Originally Posted by Chad (Post 35570070)

I'm amazed they have zero plans to launch on Freeview.

Originally Posted by BexTech (Post 35570104)

What would be the incentive then, if everyone can get it on Freeview and being Freeview means no cost to view. No need to have phone or broadband from BT, just Freeview TV and aerial.

Unless you meant as a subscription channel on DTT?

Originally Posted by Media Boy (Post 35569934)

Confirmed: No deal done yet for BT Sports on Virgin Media.

BT has confirmed at Virgin Media has no deal yet to carry BT Sport 1*, BT Sport 2* and ESPN* from August 1st.

*Also in HD.

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/d...l_tw_sportfaqs

When BT Sport do launch on Virgin Media it will cost £12 to £15 per month.

-£12 per month for the SD Channels only.
-£15 per month with the HD Channels added.

Originally Posted by andy_m (Post 35570096)

I actually don't think it's going to be possible to recoup their outlay, and by their own admission they're well on plan B. Todays announcement makes it clear that they're looking to make the best of a bad situation - they can't use their new product to sell their TV service because the rest of it isn't good enough to compete, so they're going to concentrate on building up the brand and, if they can pick up a few broadband customers along the way then that's a bonus, with the added benefit of being able to showcase their offering to the UK's largest broadband customer base. They're in it for the long haul, and intend to bid again in the next rights auction, but I wouldn't now be surprised if BT Sport doesn't turn up on Virgin.

Originally Posted by Top banana (Post 35570110)

I agree it won't be on VM but will that mean customers will leave VM in droves, probably not

Originally Posted by Chad (Post 35570119)

It might actually be a good thing for non-sports fans with XL and VIP. If ESPN drops out, and BT Sports doesn't come to Virgin at all, suddenly Virgin have extra money to play with. What this could mean is:

1. More HD channels
2. More on demand content
3. A dedicated 3D channel
4. Premier Sports
5. SKY Atlantic
6. Etc...... :D