I think this party is just getting started.

Will BT do a deal with VM? What about TalkTalk? Will Sky mutter to BT that "You think you are safe - you're not!" and counter-move with package changes and/or price reductions? Will BT's broadband network really be able to cope with streaming all of that live sport? What will BT's 1st pick of the season be aanndddd......can Jake Humphrey get even more smug?

Great move by BT with the 'free' content for their broadband customers. I was able to go to their website and build a decent triple-play package for £38 per month which included most of the channels I watch on VM's XL pack.

Ideally I would wait until YouView is fully up and running on BT's platform (and the adaptive bit-streaming is enabled for more streamed channels for HD) before making any switch from VM to BT. Otherwise, on my current VM package (Premier Collection), adding BT Sports at £15 would work out to a bill of £78 per month!

No. Your current contract length will remain in force with no extra T's or C's. Only anyone with a contract with less than 12mths to run would be signed up to a new 12mth contract.

I think 12 quid a month is decent value considering ESPN was a tenner and they didn't have as many or an 1st pick PL games. The free HD for a year is a nice touch as well. I'm definitely planning on signing up.

What date dose BT sports 1 & 2 start?

August 1

1st August.

Thank you both.

I'm considering it but they'll need to announce multiroom first. Paying £12 for each box just isn't an option. There is the online which I didn't think of, but the quality won't be as good as HD through the box.

I've listened to it in a loop now a dozen times, and still can't get it clear in my mind whether they were just trying to make the overall distinction between "free for BT Broadband customers" and "£12 per month for non-BT Broadband customers" or whether they are indicating that the online/app streaming will be exclusive to BT Broadband customers.

My conclusion is you might be right and I'm tired.

when bt sport does come to ireland
irish viewers should not subscribe until december 2013 because if no takers it might do a deal with sky ireland and irish sky sports satellite
subscribers could get it free like espn here in ireland

if bt sport shows the bundesliga
on fridays at 730pm
on saturdays at 530pm
on sundays at 230pm and 430pm
I would subscribe to bt sport only
eng prem no interest to me
if they showed the 230pm bundesliga saturday games bt sport would have a permanent subscriber

Have just done the calculations for myself, assuming that BT Vision on Youview ends up with NO access at all to Sky Sports. I've even added in the £49 set up cost for BT Vision (at £4 a month).

Taking their top fibre packages (which are directly comparable), doing it all on Sky (including BT Sports on Sky) would cost me £84.50 pm which is £7 a month more than retaining BT Infinity 2 + Sky TV&Sports. Clearly designed to stop people wanting to switch from BT Infinity + TV sports to Sky fibre + TV sports.

But if BT Vision retains/gets hold of Sky Sports 1&2 and I have the lot with BT (via Youview or a BTV box) I would at current prices save £29 a month - a snip at £55 for the lot (albeit with fewer channels - but I don't want the extra ones!).

Sky have some serious thinking to do on pricing. It also demonstrates the benefits to consumers of having real competition at last in the subscription TV market - as demonstrated by the falls in both share prices today (Sky's being a much bigger fall).

What happen with Topuptv?

So, there we are then Sky. It's over to you!

I think it's quite likely that Sky will retail BT Sport in Ireland. The two companies are close there and BT has no retail presence either. BT obviously understands why ESPN was packaged with Sky Sports. Case of wait and see.

They will only stream content over they're own BB network, gs1. Another free advantage for signing up to BT BB.

This move into Premium Sport, as stated many times before, is merely a battle for broadband customers. Not TV.

They need to update their website then, as that's not what it says.

On Sky Digital Satellite Platform

What you get
BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN – FREE with BT Broadband
Access to BT Sport online player and app


The online player doesn't mention BT Broadband as a requirement, neither is it mentioned in the "What you need" section underneath.

BT has the country's biggest wifi network so presumably if you're out and about you can use this?

Sorry for saying this, but you need to read the above again -


Please note it doesn't mention Sky only customers. And why would it?

Thats the word. But unannounced as yet. Do you have any other (YouView maybe) questions?

I'd been thinking about this a bit more, Visionman1, and was about to add the following to "foxinthebox":


Now you've posted that and messed with my thinking.;
and I'm getting very tired now because I've spent hours looking for the story on the Sky News website.

So what does todays news mean for Topuptv?

First game... but not the first pick game. Sky may have already chosen three games out of the opening weekend fixtures by then.

Having said that, if either none of the games are outstanding, or there are at least four which are all outstanding, then it may be worth Sky forcing BT to use a first pick on the first week, leaving them with fewer first picks when it matters.


I'm sure that as long as the person who pays the BT bill is happy with the arrangement, BT won't have a problem.



BT have a minimum quota of Hull games that they have to show.


I wonder if it's a marketing thing: Put the rights which don't have long left, or which BT isn't likely to retain, onto the ESPN branded channel, so that when they do lose them, it doesn't look like there is anything less on the BT channel?

Having read post #2520 just above, i see that I was wrong. You don't of course need to subscribe to BT Vision or get their box if you add BT Sports when you have a Sky TV package - so it will be £16 a month cheaper for me to keep BT Infinity 2, compared to switching to Sky Fibre pro for the same TV + Sports package *and the same channels*.

The saving is on the BT Sports subscription (£12) and BT Infinity 2 versus Sky Fibre pro (£4).

Looks like we are on to a winner here, whatever Sky do or allow with their Sports channels.

Umm... You've got me thinking now, lol.

But not as far as I am aware...

I'm not sure what I need to read again about that, seems quite clear to me. On this page http://www.bt.com/sport/3-ways-to-watch-bt-sport.html there are 3 options. I am looking under the "Sky Digital Satellite Platform" section as that would apply to me. It states that BT Sport 1 and 2 are free with BT broadband. "Free with BT broadband" is not stated next to the "online player" mentioned underneath.

"What you need" directly underneath that section, makes zero reference to BT Broadband, so it seems BT's own broadband service is not a requirement for the online player. It is only needed should you want to get BT's channels for free on a television platform of some sort.