[denphone]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Yes, but what if next time around, BT joined up with other providers so that they could bid more for the majority of football matches and then divide those matches up according to how much each put in?

So, if BT joined up with the BBC and/or ITV and/or Channel 4 and/or Channel 5, for example, this would give non-subscribers some of the action and enable BT to offer the lion's share of football on its channels at a much cheaper price than Sky does now. Now, that would be progress.

Sooner or later, someone is going to see off Sky and offer customers a better deal. We can't carry on like this, with ever spiralling subscriptions to watch the game.

But you are forgetting that most of the terrestrial channels have not got two sixpences to rub between them compared to Sky and Sky's advertising budget alone absolutely dwarfs that of the terrestrial broadcasters even when you put them all together