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

[Chad]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

This is interesting, particularly:

'If Liberty Global and Discovery were to secure the Formula One voting rights, they will effectively be able to determine which television company gets the broadcasting rights when they next come up for offer. Liberty could use them to boost Virgin Media, but it may prefer to take BT’s cash, and use BT’s burgeoning television platform as the most efficient way to put a dent in the BSkyB empire.'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...-F1-stake.html

This should enable Liberty/Virgin Media to exercise some leverage over Sky, if it comes off that is.

I think they are trying to secure it to broadcast on Eurosport, following Discovery Communications taking control. Own the F1, broadcast it yourself accross the whole of Europe on any already established Europe wide channel. Imagine the advertising revenue they could generate.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Chad

I think they are trying to secure it to broadcast on Eurosport, following Discovery Communications taking control. Own the F1, broadcast it yourself accross the whole of Europe on any already established Europe wide channel. Imagine the advertising revenue they could generate.

I would be surprised if all races were broadcast on Eurosport, a free channel. They will need to have a pay wall to really make this pay - I don't think that advertising on Eurosport would cut it.

[Anypermitedroute]

F1 has survived for many years on FTA TV not just here but in other countries in europe and still has a deal (joint albeit due to investing in the voice ahem sorry cutbacks) with BBC so I wouldnt rule out a joint Eutosport and FTA TV as they currently have many deal s in place with for example with Snooker, Darts and cycling to name three.

Eurosport model also does rely on SKY however as platform to broadcasts.

Also, would technically define Eurosport as free?

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Anypermitedroute

F1 has survived for many years on FTA TV not just here but in other countries in europe and still has a deal (joint albeit due to investing in the voice ahem sorry cutbacks) with BBC so I wouldnt rule out a joint Eutosport and FTA TV as they currently have many deal s in place with for example with Snooker, Darts and cycling to name three.

Eurosport model also does rely on SKY however as platform to broadcasts.

Also, would technically define Eurosport as free?

Isn't it a free to air channel?

Anyway, what I meant was that I would imagine they would want to air the sport on a premium sports channel.

[andy_m]

It's free to view, but not free to air.

I'd obviously welcome this, and it's nice to see Sky Sports fighting on two fronts, but realistically I see Sky breaking the bank to maintain its position and the viewer picking up the tab.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by andy_m

It's free to view, but not free to air.

I'd obviously welcome this, and it's nice to see Sky Sports fighting on two fronts, but realistically I see Sky breaking the bank to maintain its position and the viewer picking up the tab.

This.

[alwaysabear]

Originally Posted by denphone

This.

I believe that Sky have the rights for a good few years yet, so any change would have to wait until then.
More interesting for me is the fact that both CEO of Sky and BT were at the Super Bowl , so maybe we could see some changes of rights for the NFL in 2015.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by alwaysabear

I believe that Sky have the rights for a good few years yet, so any change would have to wait until then.
More interesting for me is the fact that both CEO of Sky and BT were at the Super Bowl , so maybe we could see some changes of rights for the NFL in 2015.

I actually don't like the sound of that

I have no issues with BT trying to outbid Sky however I do hope the NFL doesn't go down the same route as the EPL and put all NFL games broadcast in the UK behind a paywall.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by andy_m

It's free to view, but not free to air.

I'd obviously welcome this, and it's nice to see Sky Sports fighting on two fronts, but realistically I see Sky breaking the bank to maintain its position and the viewer picking up the tab.

I understand your reason for saying that, but I detect that the tectonic plates are shifting. I am hopeful that the competition will ultimately lead to lower prices (but they may have to increase in the short term).

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by andy_m

It's free to view, but not free to air.

I'd obviously welcome this, and it's nice to see Sky Sports fighting on two fronts, but realistically I see Sky breaking the bank to maintain its position and the viewer picking up the tab.

1) I wouldn't call Eurosport free to view as you can only view it by paying, be it online for £4pm or as part of another package on Virgin and Sky. I think examples of FTV are only on Sky and would be the channels you can view with a viewing card with no subscription but are not on Freesat. One example being Horse & Country.
2) Sky is a profit-maximising company. Does anyone think that if Sky could charge more for Sky Sports and keep enough customers to increase their profits they wouldn't have done so by now? Rights costs have shot up over the last couple of years but Sky has taken a hit on these and its profits have been squeezed. Sky is not like a builder which adds a margin to its costs, it has sophisticated models to work out the best prices to charge. In terms of sports rights, these are pretty much a fixed cost whether it's selling to one million or seven million subscribers.

[alwaysabear]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

I actually don't like the sound of that

I have no issues with BT trying to outbid Sky however I do hope the NFL doesn't go down the same route as the EPL and put all NFL games broadcast in the UK behind a paywall.

I think they will always try to keep some games of freeview, they need it to further grow the game in this country. However, I do see BT trying to obtain the NFL rights that Sky currently own as it would fit nicely on ESPN. We may even see the return of game day, that would complete my Sunday.

[muppetman11]

Salford owner Dr Marwan Koukash pours scorn on Super League TV deal

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/201...alford-rfl-sky

Wigan Warriors: Ian Lenagan blasts Super League TV deal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/26023136

[denphone]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Salford owner Dr Marwan Koukash pours scorn on Super League TV deal

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/201...alford-rfl-sky

Wigan Warriors: Ian Lenagan blasts Super League TV deal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/26023136

Like Lenagan, Koukash was especially annoyed at the lack of notice he and the other Super League chairmen were given, having been summoned to a meeting last Thursday at 24 hours notice. "I have nothing against Sky, I will always work with Sky and I respect what they've done for the sport," he added. "But hang on, there's other players around. Have we talked to them, or gone to a tendering process? No. Why commit for so long?

The questions that need to be asked and they might not be comfortable for some is one did it go out to proper tendering and two are Sky having too much pervasive influence over many of these sports bodies?.

[colin25]

" You don't marry the first girl you meet. You go out with them, you sleep with them, you try them, but don't commit to the long-term relationship until you're sure there's no one else better.""

Advocates sleeping around. Interesting comparison.

[andrewbrown]

Update of the latest UK Ice Hockey Fixtures on Premier Sports...

http://www.premiersports.tv/ice-hock...gue-ice-hockey