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

[Media Boy UK]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Do tell us ?

4/3 to BT Sport.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Media Boy

4/3 to BT Sport.

I'm assuming you still believe BT Sport would be included free with XL once Champions League and a potential increase in EPL fixtures happened ?

[Media Boy UK]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

I'm assuming you still believe BT Sport would be included free with XL once Champions League and a potential increase in EPL fixtures happened ?

I feel BT Sport on XL pack deal will be remove in August 2016.

I think Premier Sports or MUTV/LFC TV may move into the XL Pack (Or even launching that well known Sky Channel on Virgin Media) - With Virgin using the money save on BT Sport Channels to do so.

[denphone]

Now we begin the usual roller coaster guessing game of those Cable Forum stalwarts beginning in earnest of whether we get it on the XL pack or not.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by spankysmagicpian

There's no 'main package' Arthur. Just 5 of 28 and 2 of 14 I think.

There is a controlling package - it was package "D" in the last rights auction. This package allows the owner to decide when it wants to take its top picks. In the last round Sky won package "D". This meant that, although BT proudly proclaimed they had loads of top picks, Sky could decide on which weekends they would be able to use them. So if they wanted, Sky could direct BT to use a top pick on a weekend when the fixture list had thrown up nothing special, and keep their own top picks for the weekends when there were better fixtures.

Personally, having lost the Champions League I can't see Sky being prepared to see their Premier League offering reduced, but who knows. I would agree with Media Boy, though - I can't see BT Sport lasting free on Virgin past the current deal.

---------- Post added at 18:40 ---------- Previous post was at 18:39 ----------

Originally Posted by denphone

Now we begin the usual roller coaster guessing game of those Cable Forum stalwarts beginning in earnest of whether we get it on the XL pack or not.

Should have read this first before I joined in!

[Chad]

Interesting piece by the Financial Times in regards to BT's potential bidding or Premiership rights:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/60a895d0-a...#axzz3QjC9RieH

"BT’s consumer arm gives away sports channels to subscribers yet needs to keep making a profit on fibre, to show that rivals can do the same. UBS estimated that BT’s current profit per fibre subscriber was £3 a month. Assuming BT retains its existing minority share of the rights at a 45 per cent increase, the margin would fall to just £1, UBS said. The broker’s base case was for Sky to retain a majority of the rights at a cost of £1.1bn a year."

Also interesting info in this piece if SKY fail to land the lions share:

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/...oup-17736.html

"Sky's share price performance has been weighed down by the prospect of a bidding war with BT, which has been flexing its muscles a lot of late, but UBS thinks BT could be constrained in the bidding. "We expect BT to be the main competitor to Sky in the auction, but believe it could be constrained in its bidding given the application of a 'margin squeeze' test by Ofcom that regulates BT's wholesale fibre offering and includes losses from BT Sport," the Swiss bank said. Should Sky lose the rights to broadcast the majority of the Premiership games earmarked for live broadcast, UBS reckons around 1.1mln subscribers would cancel their Sky Sports subscriptions, and half a million would quit Sky completely."

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Do tell us ?

4 to BT and 3 to Sky perhaps?

I think we should watch BT very carefully; I wouldn't discount them getting more matches than Sky this time around. I think they are very determined to break Sky's dominance.

[denphone]

So far we have had many false heralding's from revered forum members who stated that BT would blow Sky out of the water but so far its more a case of men against boys methinks.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

4 to BT and 3 to Sky perhaps?

I think we should watch BT very carefully; I wouldn't discount them getting more matches than Sky this time around. I think they are very determined to break Sky's dominance.

Doesnt really matter too much personally , the end result for those of us wanting to watch all games will be an increase in costs whoever wins what.

[OLD BOY]

Normal service resumes.....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...ion-fails.html

Virgin Media bid to block Premier League auction fails
Ofcom will reject attempt to halt multibillion-pound battle between BT and Sky

The media watchdog Ofcom will reject an attempt by Virgin Media to block the Premier League’s multibillion-pound auction of live broadcasting rights, it is understood.

The regulator is expected to spurn an application by the cable operator to use its emergency powers to block the sale, in which BT and Sky are battling for footballing supremacy.

Virgin Media made the 11th-hour attempt to halt the auction last week. It called on Ofcom to use powers under the Competition Act to take the unprecedented action in order to protect consumers.

But sources said that the regulator will announce on Wednesday that it found no grounds to intervene. Under the law Ofcom could only block the auction if it found there would be “significant damage to a particular person or category of person” or harm to the public interest it it went ahead.
Virgin Media applied to block the auction as part of a campaign designed to make Premier League matches more widely available to watch live. It has called for rights to more games to sold and for at least some rights to be sold on a non-exclusive basis, so matches are shown by more than one broadcaster.

The cable operator, which is not itself bidding in the auction but does pay wholesale fees for Sky Sports and BT Sport, argued the current auction system causes inflation that harms consumers.

Its complaint against the Premier League is still under investigation by Ofcom, regardless of the expected decision not to call an urgent halt to the auction.

The sale is the second time BT and Sky have gone head to head over top-flight English football.

Analysts at UBS predicted this week that each side is likely to buy roughly the same proportion of matches as three years ago, with Sky the dominant broadcaster.

UBS analyst Polo Tang said: “The Premier League rights auction has been a major overhang on the Sky share price but potentially we believe the outcome could be more benign than people expect.”

Following the failure of Virgin Media’s blocking attempt the outcome of the auction is expected to be announced in mid-February.

[denphone]

Next week all will be revealed and personally l think things will stay as they are.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by denphone

Next week all will be revealed and personally l think things will stay as they are.

That's probably the most popular view. Don't count the chickens, though...

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

4 to BT and 3 to Sky perhaps?

I think we should watch BT very carefully; I wouldn't discount them getting more matches than Sky this time around. I think they are very determined to break Sky's dominance.

Trouble is that if BT gets more packages then Sky's obligation to wholesale its two sports channels to its competitors is likely to end. So the disadvantages of this scenario need to be weighed up against the advantages of more matches.

[vincerooney]

We need sky to win as many packages as possible. If they don't or bt gain an advantage it's potenially the death for televised football in this country.

Bt sport will start charging 20-25 quid a month if they get a lot of packages. Sky being greedy and wanting to maintain share price etc won't ever decrease their subscription costs. You'd be looking at 55+ quid per month just to watch football. A huge amount on top of monthly Sky, cable bills. The average person won't be able to afford it just like they can't afford to go to matches and very gradually football in this country may start dying a death

The greed of the premier league sees this as grab as much cash as possible opportunities. But after the end of it if they look down at their hands it may not be a handful of notes they're clutching but the blood of the ancient sport

I intentionally went to overhype and dramatise it with over the top languahe haha but I think the majority of it could frighteningly true

[josh82]

Hi all, newbie here

Having browsed this forum and in particular this topic I am lead to believe that beIN Sports have tabled a bid. The reason I know this is because my brother in law works over in Doha doing some production work for Al Jazeera and they've been told they are looking to expand into the UK.