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

[denphone]

The so called experts of Henry , Souness . etc , etc , etc get my boat and on BT the pundits are even worse IMO..

[alwaysabear]

Originally Posted by denphone

The so called experts of Henry , Souness . etc , etc , etc get my boat and on BT the pundits are even worse IMO..

I agree Den Henry and Souness ain't the best.

[muppetman11]

BT and Sky take to the pitch for Champions League rematch

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...eague-rematch/

[denphone]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

BT and Sky take to the pitch for Champions League rematch

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...eague-rematch/

Expect them to offer half what they offered before.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by denphone

Expect them to offer half what they offered before.

That would certainly be preferable , however just to correct you I think it was actually said that many of us didn't believe we'd see the sharp increases as with previous rights.

The deal could very well net more but in what form ?

If Sky was to win and pay more than BT currently do how much do you forsee a Sky Sports sub costing ?

There are other options like so many games being offered to a FTA broadcaster a tie up between a FTA broadcaster and a pay broadcaster. The article also mentions possible pan European deal or global basis let's wait and see.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

That would certainly be preferable , however just to correct you I think it was actually said that many of us didn't believe we'd see the sharp increases as with previous rights.

The deal could very well net more but in what form ?

If Sky was to win and pay more than BT currently do how much do you forsee a Sky Sports sub costing ?

There are other options like so many games being offered to a FTA broadcaster a tie up between a FTA broadcaster and a pay broadcaster. The article also mentions possible pan European deal or global basis let's wait and see.

Part of my post was meant in jest MM as personally l think the bidding will be above what was paid last time but as you know l am often wrong in my predictions but we shall see what happens as you so succinctly say.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by denphone

Part of my post was meant in jest MM as personally l think the bidding will be above what was paid last time but as you know l am often wrong in my predictions but we shall see what happens as you so succinctly say.

Den trust me I get equally as many things wrong. My beliefs are just based on the fact I believe Sports rights cannot continue to increase at the rate they have been in my opinion everyone has a limit of what represents value for money to them. We will see.

[muppetman11]

Sky Acquires Majority Stake In True North, Invests In Chrysalis Vision

http://deadline.com/2017/01/sky-majo...nt-1201892237/

Sky prepares for push into film production

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...lm-production/

Clearly trying to make its offering less reliant on Sport ?

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Sky Acquires Majority Stake In True North, Invests In Chrysalis Vision

http://deadline.com/2017/01/sky-majo...nt-1201892237/

Sky prepares for push into film production

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/...lm-production/

Clearly trying to make its offering less reliant on Sport ?

I was thinking maybe to make its offering less reliant on HBO in case the latter decides to set up its own channels/service. The only exclusive content is content that you commission yourself.

[denphone]

You could say that but remember Sport has been Sky's mighty financial driver of subscriptions for over 20 years now and without it they might find themselves up the creek without a paddle quicker then one can imagine but personally l cannot see that happening anytime soon.

---------- Post added at 10:53 ---------- Previous post was at 10:51 ----------

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I was thinking maybe to make its offering less reliant on HBO in case the latter decides to set up its own channels/service. The only exclusive content is content that you commission yourself.

And most of Sky's own exclusive commissions have failed to get decent audiences on the scale of the GOT and other HBO content.

[1andrew1]

If anyone wants to understand more about bidding for the Champions League and the BT-Sky rivalry, these two in-depth posts from Mike Darcey (former COO at Sky) are worth your while reading.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/biddi...?trk=prof-post

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/biddi...ii-mike-darcey

Credit to finding them: RobSmithS on Digital Spy
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...postcount=2995

---------- Post added at 11:03 ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 ----------

Originally Posted by denphone

And most of Sky's own exclusive commissions have failed to get decent audiences on the scale of the GOT and other HBO content.

Therein lies the dilemma. Sky's dependency here gives HBO more leverage in negotiations. The balance of power would be tipped in Sky's favour if its own content secured GoT-like viewing figures. Maybe the combination with Fox will help facilitate this too.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I was thinking maybe to make its offering less reliant on HBO in case the latter decides to set up its own channels/service. The only exclusive content is content that you commission yourself.

Only HBO will know when that time is right on Sky's most recent deal I've worked out HBO would need north of 450,000 subscribers to equal what Sky is paying them. In that working I haven't allowed for extra costs such as marketing , subscription billing and the cost of running it's own streaming service. As an estimate I'd say they'd need at least north of a million paying customers on a subscription of £10 a month.

[vincerooney]

Originally Posted by alwaysabear

I agree Den Henry and Souness ain't the best.

I had figured after the universal disdain for owen that sky and BT would hire pundits based on actual talent at the job rather than "name value". Henry is absolutely terrible at his job. Hired purely as he's "thierry henry". I'd rather have a man out of the pub giving his views if he's more articulate than Henry.

Looking at the wages of neville, owen, carragher, henry etc and the price i pay each month for sky sports going towards this...one wonders if we can "opt out" of grinning pundits in the future.

£25 for sky sports with the expensive wages of the cliche "MNF/Super sunday LADZ"
XL package needed for BT sports and the expensive wages for the awful punditry of BT sports at pitch side.

OR

Ten quid off the bill for everything if you just want football coverage. No expensive pundits. Their wage bill taken off for good. At half time you're just greeted with a black screen until the game finishes.

I'd sign up for the latter.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by denphone

You could say that but remember Sport has been Sky's mighty financial driver of subscriptions for over 20 years now and without it they might find themselves up the creek without a paddle quicker then one can imagine but personally l cannot see that happening anytime soon.

That's right, Den, but you will be aware of the growing resistence to price rises in relation to the cost of sport. If higher bids result in higher prices on a regular basis, the law of diminishing returns start to kick in, and then sport will no longer be the mighty financial driver it once was.

As I said before, you can't just the future by the present. Things have a habit of changing.

---------- Post added at 18:24 ---------- Previous post was at 18:19 ----------

Another blow for VM subscribers.

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/01/f...ation-via.html

BT Sport subscribers with Sky, BT TV, TalkTalk, or who access BT Sport via the app will gain access to Boxing channel BoxNation from 24th February 2017.

The tie-up between the two broadcasters was first announced last year, but since then further details alongside the launch date have become available. While BT Sport subscribers using BT's and TalkTalk's YouView-based TV services or using Sky will benefit, Virgin Media customers with BT Sport are excluded.

Anyone with the BT Sport Pack will get BoxNation for free from 24th February 2017, although BoxNation's pay-per-view events won't be included, according to BT. HD pack customers will gain free access to BoxNation in high definition. BT Sport Lite Pack customers will need to upgrade to the full BT Sport pack to gain access to BoxNation.

The launch coincides with an evening of boxing including Boy Jones Jnr v Craig Poxton and Jay Harris v Thomas Essomba from Bethanal Green.

As part of the deal between BoxNation and BT Sport, Saturday night Fight Nights will also feature on the BT Sport channels.

As announced on Friday, BT will start charging all BT TV customers for BT Sport from 1st August 2017. This affects those watching in standard definition, as HD and UHD customers already pay a premium for BT Sport in high and ultra high definition formats. BT is increasing the monthly subscription charge for those accessing BT Sport via Sky from the same date. However, BT says the deal with BoxNation means viewers who previously subscribed to both services separately will save £144 a year.

[Media Boy UK]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

That's right, Den, but you will be aware of the growing resistence to price rises in relation to the cost of sport. If higher bids result in higher prices on a regular basis, the law of diminishing returns start to kick in, and then sport will no longer be the mighty financial driver it once was.

As I said before, you can't just the future by the present. Things have a habit of changing.

---------- Post added at 18:24 ---------- Previous post was at 18:19 ----------

Another blow for VM subscribers.

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/01/f...ation-via.html

BT Sport subscribers with Sky, BT TV, TalkTalk, or who access BT Sport via the app will gain access to Boxing channel BoxNation from 24th February 2017.

The tie-up between the two broadcasters was first announced last year, but since then further details alongside the launch date have become available. While BT Sport subscribers using BT's and TalkTalk's YouView-based TV services or using Sky will benefit, Virgin Media customers with BT Sport are excluded.

Anyone with the BT Sport Pack will get BoxNation for free from 24th February 2017, although BoxNation's pay-per-view events won't be included, according to BT. HD pack customers will gain free access to BoxNation in high definition. BT Sport Lite Pack customers will need to upgrade to the full BT Sport pack to gain access to BoxNation.

The launch coincides with an evening of boxing including Boy Jones Jnr v Craig Poxton and Jay Harris v Thomas Essomba from Bethanal Green.

As part of the deal between BoxNation and BT Sport, Saturday night Fight Nights will also feature on the BT Sport channels.

As announced on Friday, BT will start charging all BT TV customers for BT Sport from 1st August 2017. This affects those watching in standard definition, as HD and UHD customers already pay a premium for BT Sport in high and ultra high definition formats. BT is increasing the monthly subscription charge for those accessing BT Sport via Sky from the same date. However, BT says the deal with BoxNation means viewers who previously subscribed to both services separately will save £144 a year.

Virgin Media did confirm to SeeNit on December 12th that Boxnation was not set to launch on the XL Package or join the BT Sport package.