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Premier League Rights: ITV in talks with BT for some rights

Split from The Sport Thread (June 2012)

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VM
VMPhil
BT! Did not expect that!
DV
DVB Cornwall
Big incentive for YOUVIEW, Clearly this is the catalyst required. Especially if HD is offered.
JO
Jon
It seems whatever people started to believe at any time in this process, it kept getting flipped on it's head.

BT to launch new sport channel as well.
GO
gottago
So does what does this mean for ESPN in the UK?
VM
VMPhil
Jon posted:
It seems whatever people started to believe at any time in this process, it kept getting flipped on it's head.

BT to launch new sport channel as well.


Yes after all the rumours and posts not just on here but other sites, I was really expecting a three way split between Sky, ESPN and Al Jazeera.

But BT! Never expected that. What a shock.
IS
Inspector Sands
It seems that AJ were one of the other bidders, obviously ESPN were too but I wonder who else
DV
DVB Cornwall
Premier League Statement ....

see here ……..

PREMIERLEAGUE.COM
13-Jun-2012 @ 17:29
DV
DVB Cornwall
and BT Stock Exchange Statement .....



BT Group plc

BT wins live Premier League rights

Following today's announcement by the Premier League, we are pleased to confirm that BT has been awarded the A and G packages of live rights for the 2013/14 to 2015/16 Premier League seasons.

Our rights include 18 first picks, around half of those available, which means that for the first time consumers have a real choice of provider when it comes to watching the best games. We have secured access to 38 live games, including the opening game of the season, which represents a quarter of the 154 matches to be shown each season.

We will launch a new football-focused channel to carry the games. It will offer new interactive features when supplied over BT's fibre network and we will look to distribute it on other platforms. Full details and pricing will be published in due course.

Ian Livingston, Chief Executive, said: "We are pleased to have won these rights and to have secured around half of the best games on offer each season. We look forward to offering football fans real value and great quality using the latest technology.

"BT is already investing £2.5bn in fibre broadband. Securing Premier League rights fits naturally with this, as consumers increasingly want to buy their broadband and entertainment services from a single provider."

Financial details
The rights will cost £246m per season. A deposit of around £22m is payable this month followed by six instalments of around £120m starting in August 2013 and continuing in the months of January and August until January 2016.

Our outlook for 2012/13 remains unchanged.

We expect this investment to reduce EBITDA1 by around £100m and normalised free cash flow2 by around £200m in 2013/14, partly reflecting the timing of the rights payments. This will improve in the following years.

In 2014/15 we expect normalised free cash flow2 of around £2.5bn for the group.

As a result of our confidence in our ability to generate strong cash flow, our dividend policy and share buyback programme remain unchanged.

A conference call for analysts and investors will be held at 18:00 (UK time) today.

Dial in details: UK Freefone - 0800 077 8492; UK - 0844 335 0351; International - +44 844 335 0351
Passcode: BT June

Replay: UK Freefone - 0800 032 9687; UK/International - +44 (0)207 136 9233
Passcode: 61860650

(Replay available from 20:00 tonight)

Premier League packages awarded
Package
Number of matches
Kick-off times
A 26 Saturday 12:45
G 12 - 10 matches midweek evenings and Bank Holidays, 2 matches Saturday 12:45

1 Before specific items
2 Before specific items, pension deficit payments and the cash tax benefit of pension deficit payments
RE
Revolution
So does what does this mean for ESPN in the UK?

Many people will cancel their subcriptions I guess. But La Liga rights are up for renewal in 2013, they may fancy it.
JO
Jon
I don't think the ESPN brand will disappear. But I think the way it's sold will change.

In a way it might be good for the consumer if it did close as some of those rights they still have might end up with free to air broadcasters like ITV 4.
VM
VMPhil
It'll be strange to go back to having ESPN branded channels with no ESPN though.
DJ
DJGM
So, that'll be ESPN screwed ... and it's subscribers, meaning football fans that want to follow the entire Premier League
have to subscribe to yet another different sports channel, and maybe also add yet another new box under the telly,
assuming BT decide to keep the matches they won the rights to, exclusive to their own BTVision service.

I'm glad I don't follow football, especially the entirely greed driven and utterly over-rated Premier League.

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