Why is Sky Sports on BT so much cheaper?

resander · 26-01-2011, 19:35

I have only just discovered Cable Forum and this sub-forum, so I
can now ask about something that has puzzled me for some time,
namely the price difference of Sky Sports TV for BT and Virgin.

Adding Sky Sports 1, 2... to a Virgin bundle is Â£22 and adding
the same to a BT bundle is Â£12. That's a huge difference.

Why is this? What caused it? Did BT negotiate with Sky after
Virgin and got a much better deal? Can/will Virgin renegotiate?
Or did other factors come into play?

Any news/rumours/opinions about Virgin coming down in price
when adding Sky Sports to their bundles?

Ken

nialli · 26-01-2011, 19:37

It's heavily subsidised by BT - they make a (significant) loss on every subscriber who signs up to Sky Sports. Virgin and BT get it at the same wholesale price.

Digital Fanatic · 26-01-2011, 19:58

Yep, BT make a loss of Sky Sports.

frogstamper · 26-01-2011, 20:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by resander

I have only just discovered Cable Forum and this sub-forum, so I
can now ask about something that has puzzled me for some time,
namely the price difference of Sky Sports TV for BT and Virgin.

Adding Sky Sports 1, 2... to a Virgin bundle is Â£22 and adding
the same to a BT bundle is Â£12. That's a huge difference.

Why is this? What caused it? Did BT negotiate with Sky after
Virgin and got a much better deal? Can/will Virgin renegotiate?
Or did other factors come into play?

Any news/rumours/opinions about Virgin coming down in price
when adding Sky Sports to their bundles?

Ken

I didn't realize that BT offered Sky sports for such a low price, having just looked at their web-site you get Sky sports 1 and 2, ESPN and Vision sport for just Â£12.30pm.
I suppose its heavily discounted to make up for their general lack of channels compared to Sky and VM, either way its a very good offer.

http://www.productsandservices.bt.co...?topicId=25634

Dave42 · 26-01-2011, 20:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by resander

I have only just discovered Cable Forum and this sub-forum, so I
can now ask about something that has puzzled me for some time,
namely the price difference of Sky Sports TV for BT and Virgin.

Adding Sky Sports 1, 2... to a Virgin bundle is Â£22 and adding
the same to a BT bundle is Â£12. That's a huge difference.

Why is this? What caused it? Did BT negotiate with Sky after
Virgin and got a much better deal? Can/will Virgin renegotiate?
Or did other factors come into play?

Any news/rumours/opinions about Virgin coming down in price
when adding Sky Sports to their bundles?

Ken

you got to sign 2 year contract for bt broadband to get it at the cheapest price too

mersey70 · 26-01-2011, 20:15

They no doubt make a decent profit on the BT landline and BB whch is required to have BT Vision though. Even though their phone and BB is excellent in my personal experience the BB is quite expensive though compared to other ADSL products.

Nevertheless the Sky Sports offer isn't bad but new customers seem to get hit with a 24 month contract though to get the best headline price, ouch!

Digital Fanatic · 26-01-2011, 20:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by mersey70

They no doubt make a decent profit on the BT landline and BB whch is required to have BT Vision though. Even though their phone and BB is excellent in my personal experience the BB is quite expensive though compared to other ADSL products.

Nevertheless the Sky Sports offer isn't bad but new customers seem to get hit with a 24 month contract though to get the best headline price, ouch!

That's a long time to be tied to it, especially if you decide it's not for you after a few months!

mersey70 · 26-01-2011, 20:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digital Fanatic

That's a long time to be tied to it, especially if you decide it's not for you after a few months!

Until they become the norm I wouldn't sign an 18 month contract with a provider let alone 24 months, no chance! Unfortunately with BT and Talk Talk and to a lesser extent VM longer contracts are becoming more common.

HDFootyMan · 26-01-2011, 21:36

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c879c8b4-8606-11df-bc22-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1CAwhCNjB

Quote:

For each bundle of Sky Sports 1 and 2 it sells at Â£12, BT must pay BSkyB Â£19.07, which increases both BTâ€™s loss and BSkyBâ€™s margin.

resander · 28-01-2011, 08:09

I see, BT is making a loss...

This could well be effective, so I hope VM will answer and reduce the Sky Sports add-on price soon.

Here, TV is the king (XL-160 channels) and there is no way I can downgrade with three teenage children glued to Disney-channel, discovery channels and other XL offerings (and self and football-crazy son to ESPN!). Our minimum broadband M (10meg) and phone M are all we need, so there are no savings to be made by trying to downgrade the regular Virgin stuff.

Then, as we want Sky Sports and having to pay Â£22 instead of Â£12 hurts.

Paul K · 28-01-2011, 08:33

Why on earth would VM drop pricing to compete with someone making a massive loss? It's not going to happen as a standard pricing change so don't hold your breath.

Perfect Choice · 28-01-2011, 09:31

Its tough managing the finances of a family with multiple demands, you don't seem to have much choice reallyas far as I can see.

BT are trying to buy up customers with such a loss making deal and counter gaps in their TV portfolio which is precisely why you are subscribing to VM I guess. Something has to give in terms of TV choice or the family budget has to be hit elsewhere.

nialli · 28-01-2011, 10:29

Even at that price, the numbers released in November suggest few are biting: just 50k signed up.

Dave42 · 28-01-2011, 11:08

and don't forget bt only get sky sports 1+2 and vm get sky sports 1,2,3,4 and sky sports news and sky sports 1+2 HD

BenJSmyth · 28-01-2011, 11:10

Although adding the HD part costs another Â£7 a month.