TV Home Forum

Premier League rights 2019-22

190 matches to be offered as Virgin Media complaint halted. (August 2016)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
DV
DVB Cornwall
Football fans are likely to face more increases in the cost of watching matches at home, as the media watchdog will today drop its two-year investigation of the Premier League’s multi-billion-pound TV rights auction.

Ofcom will abandon work on a complaint from the cable operator Virgin Media, after concluding that it does not have the capacity to assess either way whether the way the Premier League sells rights is harming consumers, The Telegraph can reveal.

The decision means England’s top clubs can maintain the blockade of live coverage of matches that kick off in the traditional 3pm Saturday slot.

It is expected that as part of the announcement the Premier League will increase the number of matches available for live broadcast in the next auction to 190, up from 168.

A source said regulators and the Premier League have also agreed changes to the structure of the sale that are designed to boost competition among broadcasters. It is believed the changes will boost the number of matches allocated to the minority rights holder, currently BT.


more details ……..

BUSINESS on TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
07-Aug-2016 @ 22:45
BR
Brekkie
It's ridiculous really these may be put out to tender before the value of the current deal can really be assessed. I know we've been saying this every time they come up for renewal but surely the value must have peaked with this deal. I suspect they're concentrating on making the "secondary" package more attractive as they know they've pretty much maxed out Sky's funds.
RE
Rex
It's ridiculous really these may be put out to tender before the value of the current deal can really be assessed. I know we've been saying this every time they come up for renewal but surely the value must have peaked with this deal. I suspect they're concentrating on making the "secondary" package more attractive as they know they've pretty much maxed out Sky's funds.

The Premier League rights costs have increased drastically and it's affecting Sky's attempts to deal with carriage renewals. They' are strained heavily by the costs of the rights that channel operators are being asked to reduce the prices Sky pay for carriage. Discovery is one such example.

Then there's the value of channels Sky have in the 'sub club' - which has been offset by the cost of football rights. In the past it was mainly PSB broadcasters who wanted to broadcast their services FTA, however we have an influx of companies moving to FTA based on the rewards of ad revenue compared to 'sub club' revenue. Despite this, Freesat will at least benefit from channels moving to FTA - Freeview itself is almost full capacity (barring most of COM8 and half of PSB3).
MI
Michael
I cancelled Sky Sports this year. I guess a lot of people will continue to do the same thing.
DV
DVB Cornwall
Ofcom has today closed its investigation into how the Premier League sells live UK audio-visual media rights for Premier League football matches.

The investigation, carried out under the Competition Act 1998, considered whether the selling arrangements of the Premier League restricted or distorted competition.

In closing the investigation, Ofcom has taken into account the Premier League’s recent decision to increase the number of matches available for live broadcast in the UK, to a minimum of 190 per season from the start of the 2019/20 season. This will be an increase of at least 22 matches per season over the number sold for live broadcast in the Premier League’s auction in 2015.

The Premier League’s decision to increase matches available in its next auction for live TV rights builds upon commitments given to the European Commission in 2006.

The next auction will include a ‘no single buyer’ rule, which means that more than one broadcaster must be awarded rights. At least 42 matches per season will be reserved for a second buyer, of which a minimum of 30 will be available for broadcast at the weekend.


from ……..

NEWS on MEDIA.OFCOM.ORG.UK
08-Aug-2016 @ 11:41
RD
rdd Founding member
Interesting related discussion in the Times regarding the inflation in fees paid to broadcast the Premier League and the related increase in subscriber costs. BT's John Petter speculates that while Sky are coming close to hitting the ceiling for what customers are able to pay, his company has a lot of scope to increase subscription costs.
HC
Hatton Cross
Umm.. Mr BT. Either you don't fully understand the market, or ignoring it - but most of your subscribers also have Sky Sports.

If you keep jacking up the price of your subscription or HD premium sports channels then most subscribers will do exactly the same as you predict will happen to Sky Sports subscribers.
HC
Hatton Cross
And talking of the next rights bidding window (which is odd to talk about, when the new one is still 5 days away) I do wonder if these extra 22 games will be made up of adding a couple of extra matches to the 'headline' packages, and creating a new one of around 16 games, which Sky and BT are excluded from bidding for, to artificially increase competition between companies - even though the UK pay tv market probably can't sustain 3 sports broadcasters.
DV
DVB Cornwall
Read the articles, it's clear the only set in stone figure is 42 as a minimum number for a second bidder, which I expect to see exceeded in reality.
BR
Brekkie
Leicester have probably done wonders for the lesser packages in the rights, and that really is the only area I can them increasing value now.
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
The price for Sky Sports is high. Especially if you want it in HD.

This is because (for Sky TV) it's £27.50 a month for Sports on its own, you can't buy the Sports HD pack at £6 a month without the Family Pack (which is £38 a month on its own). That's £65.50 a month just to watch Sky Sports - that is £786 a year (£858 in HD) - a lot of money in these tough economical times and and I feel the ceiling may not be too far away as it's probably not far away now from most top season ticket prices... Even the basic package with Sports is £47.50 a month, no HD available - still £570 a year.

Anyway its documented in the Telegraph article Sky have had to cut costs in other areas to fund the Premier League deal. That may be a sign that the next deal may not be as lucrative.
BR
Brekkie
Are Sky prevented from just offering their own entertainment channels as an entry point, or at the very least making them available to sports or movies subscribers without needing a general entertainment pack.

NOW TV the best entry point for Sky Sports then, and although not HD you can at least multiroom it (max 2 screens across 4 devices) without paying extra.

Newer posts