BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

If this is correct, it could be problematic for sports fans:

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5...3984219#M61162

Re: VM & BT Sport in dispute?
 

It’s clearly wrong. The staff on the Community say it’s a technical issue.

It’d be stupid to launch a package and advertise it as

If they know BT will go imminently. The first thing you’ll have is everyone onto retentions.

The last people to know key information like this would be call centre staff.

https://virginmedia.response.lithium...ation/20100771

(From Twitter)

Re: VM & BT Sport in dispute?
 

Working fine on my app.

Re: VM & BT Sport in dispute?
 

And the two accounts I have access to!

Re: VM & BT Sport in dispute?
 

People have been reporting this for three weeks, so it seems unlikely to be related to the new packages.
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5...o/td-p/3973826

I'll see if I can find a fault ticket for it.

edit: OK, found one. P009324795. It's under investigation. Perhaps the thread title could be updated?

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

Interesting given that Sky are set to announce that BT Sport will be free for all Sky Sports customers with the full Sports line up package.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

Where have they said that? They did say you will be able to add BT Sport to your Sky subscription.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

I think it was part of the deal that got the Now TV app on BT so they'd get Sky Atlantic.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

It’s not interesting. It’s a fault.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

I spoke to a retention manager over the weekend who advised me that this July BT Sport would be free to all Sky customers who have all the Sky Sports Channels as I was going to take all my services to BT. I asked him if he was sure and it was not a tactic to trick me into staying with Sky. However he was certain that this will be the case.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

Sounds like a tactic to trick you into staying with Sky ;)

It may be for those with the full Sky package inc. Sports.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

I’m not even sure that will be the case, my best guess would be a subsidised add on for Sports subscribers. BT are still in the sports rights market to the tune of over £650m a year - that’s a fair chunk of cash for Sky/Virgin to cover (assuming they’d sell virtually no standalone subscriptions at £30 a month if bundled with both Sky and Virgin top packages).

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

It might be that BT Sport will only be free for the month of July for those that have all the Sky Sports Channels as an enticement to get people to order BT Sport for the new football season?

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

BT Sport channels ars 'free' with the Full House package on Virgin Media, so I wouldn't be surprised if Sky came up with something similar.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

It’s “free” to customers highly unlikely to pay for it, so a net gain overall for BT compared to selling it on the Virgin platform. Sky would have to cover all the revenue from DTH subscribers on that platform - it’ll be price rises if it does happen.

BT aren't retailing Sky Basic channels within their own packages, only via Now TV, so I doubt there's going to be much given by either side.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

Sky subscribers who watch Sky Sports are of course interested in topping up their sports diet with BT Sport. The problem at the moment for Sky viewers is that it is devilishly expensive under existing arrangements.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

That's because recovering £650m (and that's just the Premiership and Champions League) a year in sports rights is an expensive operation. Unless Sky are willing to take the hit on their profits (no laughing at the back) it means price rises to cover it.

Subscribers on the Sky platform are the ones likely to either a) take BT broadband or b) pay the standalone price. BT need to recoup their outlay from them.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

So how come Virgin Media XL customers were given BT Sport at no extra cost? Sky would only be letting Sky Sports customers get it free under the assumed arrangement.

Re: BT Sport disappeared from TV Go
 

Virgin Media customers are much less likely to take Sky premium channels, let alone any standalone channels over and above that. I think we can universally accept at standalone price Sky Sports represents better value than BT Sports.

So if Virgin offer BT Sports to say, 1.8 million TV XL customers, maybe only a couple of hundred thousand of them would have actually paid the full price anyway.

200 000 * £30 * 12 = £72m.

Virgin on the other hand could offer £5 per XL subscriber and that's £108m, plus advertising revenue but I'll accept that's negligible.

Sky customers are far more likely to take Sky Premiums, and in turn more likely to pay for additional standalone channels. Or, not being Virgin customers are more likely to take BT broadband plus Sky TV. It's Sky customers (and BT customers) where BT are far more likely to recoup their investment.

So unless Sky wants to stump up through price rises BT aren't going to cover their costs. Under your proposal they are going to give it away to approx six million households who are most likely to pay for it anyway.

There is no magic money tree as they say.