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

[smallclone]

Have Virgin announced if and when they are going to announce that BT Sports will actually be available via Virgin Media?

[denphone]

Originally Posted by smallclone

Have Virgin announced if and when they are going to announce that BT Sports will actually be available via Virgin Media?

Not yet but they will.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by coulsontom

How many customers are that bothered about sky go extra?

Actually lowering the prices for the content itself rather than discounting unnecessary add-ons would be the only way to genuinely attract interest

There are many options open to them , they could offer their unlimited £7.50 BB package free to Sky Sports subscribers , I'm sure they'll react if they feel theres an excessive amount of cancellations going through.

Originally Posted by colin25

Yes, it is a wait and see.

i am out of contract, so depends on best price. At moment I get all from Sky, but I am a money hore (misspelt because of the kids on here ), so will wait and see who gives me best price for content

Exactly the same here mate I'm out of contract however the pain for me is no Infinity in my area so in reality Sky is still probably the best offer.

[smallclone]

Originally Posted by denphone

Not yet but they will.

Thanks. Are VM definitely getting BT sports as an option? Or is it all unknown?

[paul nolan]

Originally Posted by smallclone

Thanks. Are VM definitely getting BT sports as an option? Or is it all unknown?

I saw a quote that Talk Talk and Virgin would only start negotiations now, after they became aware of the 'value' of the package.

[Henkesghost]

Originally Posted by paul nolan

I saw a quote that Talk Talk and Virgin would only start negotiations now, after they became aware of the 'value' of the package.

Virgin's head of negotiations

[denphone]

By Heck Henke you are younger then l thought.

[Gavin-D]

BT offers free Premier League football in BSkyB battle

BT is to offer free Premier League football coverage to its broadband customers, the telecoms company has announced. After winning a three-year deal to show 38 Premier League games a season, BT has signalled its intent to challenge BSkyB's dominance of sports pay-TV. BSkyB's shares fell nearly 6% as BT unveiled its plans, which includes a £10-a-month broadband package. BT has 6.3 million broadband customers, but just 750,000 pay-TV customers. The aggressive move is an attempt to establish itself as a major multi-platform provider, offering TV, internet and telephone in one package.

BT Sport's channels will also show 69 live Aviva Premiership rugby matches per season, plus live football from leagues in Germany, France, Italy and Brazil. Chief executive Ian Livingston said: "UK sports fans have had a rough deal for too long. Many have been priced out of the market, but we will change this by giving away BT Sport for free with our broadband. "Sports fans are the winners today."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22462525

Unsurprisingly the Sky news website isn't carrying this story

BT will offer the two new sport channels and ESPN free for the first year to customers who take its broadband products, marking the first serious attempt to combine exclusive TV services and the internet. Customers who do not have BT’s broadband can access BT Sport via Sky’s own platform for £15 per month in HD. Of the 20 million UK households with broadband, more than a quarter already take it from BT. The company said it would make the switching process easier. It has cut the price for fibre broadband, offering superfast speeds, to £15 per month and to conventional broadband to £10 per month. BT claimed the move will “return sport to grassroots fans”, and said it would be “the first time in more than 20 years that weekly live matches from the Barclays Premier League will be free to watch”. There will be 38 live and exclusive football matches from the Barclays Premier League, including 18 of the top fixtures chosen by BT, and up to 69 live rugby matches from the Aviva Premiership, where BT will be the sole broadcaster.

Access to the broadband service will reqire a set-top box, either from YouView or Vision+ box for BT TV, both of which are available via BT.

After the first year, BT Sport will cost £3 per month to BT customers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...kes-on-TV.html

[colin25]

I thought that this is bad news for virgin viewers, as they lose ESPN. Looks like BT are gunning more for virgin then sky

[Henkesghost]

Originally Posted by colin25

I thought that this is bad news for virgin viewers, as they lose ESPN. Looks like BT are gunning more for virgin then sky

Pfffft! Virgin will come out all water pistols blazing

[Chad]

The worrying thing is how expensive HD is going to become. Virgin customers who want SKY Movies, SKY Sports and BT Sports in HD may face having to pay £10.00 per month in HD charges! SKY customers who don't move to BT broadband, and take advantage of BT Sports in HD for free for a year, face paying over £13.00 per month!

Hopefully Al Jazeera Sport comes along in 3 years and sorts this mess out.

[coulsontom]

There'd be something hollow about Al Jazeera doing channels. Surely we should have British companies running TV here.

That's ridiculous though given who owns News Corporation.

I don't understand the people trying to claim that people will be paying more. That's just nonsense.

Originally Posted by coulsontom

I don't understand the people trying to claim that people will be paying more. That's just nonsense.

This is CableForum. ESPN is free on Virgin, BT Sport is not.

Simples.

Originally Posted by colin25

I thought that this is bad news for virgin viewers, as they lose ESPN. Looks like BT are gunning more for virgin then sky

The markets reckon its aimed at getting Sky customers to move back to BT broad band.