DS Forums

 
 

BT Sports Channel (Part 2)


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 25-11-2013, 10:00
1andrew1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,981
I thought that this was worth posting on here folks:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/med...-league-rights
Thanks mogzyboy, a good find. In particular.

"Many analysts reckon those prices [£40pm for BT Sport if it acquires the bulk of the Premiership matches in 2015 for £1.2bn+] are simply not economic, especially not for sport alone. So the challenges for BT are formidable. Its executives can keep flashing the cash and driving up rights costs, but in the course of doing so will create a mighty rod for their own backs. Which is why some of the smart money is saying that BT's shareholders might well call a halt before the next Premier League auction risks even more of their cash."

Interesting commentary and the revenue analysis from Enders matches what mlt11 has been saying if I remember correctly.
1andrew1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 25-11-2013, 11:39
Gordie10
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Yeovil, Somerset, England
Posts: 2,009
What the hell was that tactics thing at half time?!
They're not gonna have that enormous "pitch" area in the studio but never use it.

Generally I like the ticker - gets the anticipation of the 3pm kick offs going and takes away a little from the isolationism perspective that tv channels can sometimes have on how big their game is compared to the rest.
Not necessary during stoppage time at the end of ANY live game. Who's really gonna want to read team news for 4 minutes while a game in progress is coming to a potentially decisive conclusion?
Gordie10 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-11-2013, 15:52
PaulLFC
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,147
BT Sport 1
w/e 17 Nov 2013
1 UEFA UNDER 21 CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 QUALIFYI (THU 1900 97
2 FA CUP (MON 1915) 58
3 UFC (SAT 2700) 54
4 RUGBY TONIGHT (WED 2000) 53
5 THE SKRILL PREMIER (SAT 1700) 47
6 FIFA WORLD CUP 2014 QUALIFIER (SUN 1418) 47
7 UFC (SAT 2500) 29
8 UFC COUNTDOWN (WED 2329) 20
9 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY (SUN 1729) 19
10 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY (SAT 1130) 18

BT Sport 2
w/e 17 Nov 2013
1 BTS FILLERS (FRI 2556) 27
2 UFC - THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER - SERIES 18 (THU 2259) 26
3 UFC - THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER - SERIES 18 (FRI 2430) 25
4 UFC PRIME TIME (FRI 2601) 24
5 MOTOGP CLASSICS (FRI 2730) 23
6 UFC COUNTDOWN (FRI 2529) 22
7 WTA 2013 BEST MATCHES (SUN 1300) 19
8 FIFA WORLD CUP 2014 QUALIFIER (SAT 1857) 18
9 UFC UNLEASHED (FRI 2329) 18
10 UFC - ULTIMATE INSIDER (THU 2202) 17

ESPN
w/e 17 Nov 2013
1 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (SUN 1400) 12
2 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (SAT 1701) 11
3 NASCAR SPRINT CUP HIGHLIGHTS (MON 2100) 9
4 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (SUN 0701) 9
5 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (SAT 2050) 9
6 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (WED 1001) 8
7 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (FRI 0958) 8
8 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (MON 1413) 7
9 NASCAR SPRINT CUP HIGHLIGHTS (WED 1300) 6
10 ESPN FILLERS (13) (SUN 0925) 6
PaulLFC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-11-2013, 18:14
mlt11
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,163
I thought that this was worth posting on here folks:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/med...-league-rights
Thanks mogzyboy, a good find. In particular.

"Many analysts reckon those prices [£40pm for BT Sport if it acquires the bulk of the Premiership matches in 2015 for £1.2bn+] are simply not economic, especially not for sport alone. So the challenges for BT are formidable. Its executives can keep flashing the cash and driving up rights costs, but in the course of doing so will create a mighty rod for their own backs. Which is why some of the smart money is saying that BT's shareholders might well call a halt before the next Premier League auction risks even more of their cash."

Interesting commentary and the revenue analysis from Enders matches what mlt11 has been saying if I remember correctly.
Thanks - yes, that is a very good article by Hewlett.

Some of his numbers are a bit off - there aren't 2.5m with the combination of BT broadband/Sky TV (actually more like 1.5m as another article said recently) and approx 7m take Sky Sports (6m Sky platform; 1m other platforms).

But the key point in the article which is correct is this:

If BT wins 116 PL games at the next auction, BT's annual sports costs in the year 2016/17 will almost certainly be higher than Sky's total sports costs today.

BT will be spending more on just two contracts - ie PL + CL - than Sky spends in total on all sport today.

BT would undoubtedly be the number 1 must have football channel but it would barely have scratched the surface across the whole spectrum of other important sports where Sky is strong - cricket, F1, golf, tennis, rugby union, rugby league etc. Only other notable contract so far is Aviva.

BT is not going to get anything remotely like 7m homes to subscribe to a channel which is so weak outside of football. And yet it would have a cost base higher than Sky's total sports cost base today.

One stat not posted on here for many years is a useful x-ref:

Sky won exclusive live PL in 1992. By 1997 Sky had 3.5m subscribers. Then in the next two years the number of Sky subscribers actually fell - by 1999 there were just under 3.5m. At that point Sky didn't just have exclusive live PL - they also had FL, 1st pick FA Cup games and all home England games.

Some of the 3.5m would have been non-sports so the sports figure was actually lower - probably in range 2.5m to 3m as sports was a higher % of base back then.

I think it gives a feel for how many paying subs football can get on its own - that was a very, very strong football portfolio. So if in that scenario (ie BT with a totally dominant football portfolio of broadly equal strength to Sky's late 1990s position) BT could only get 3m paying proper full sports subs or even a few more the numbers on the face of it look horrendous - ie higher cost base than SS today but only half the number of subs of SS today.

Not to say they might not go for it as a massive loss leader with a view to attempting to do massive damage to Sky which could in turn bring huge long term benefits. But it has to be a very high risk manoeuvre - not in sense it could bankrupt BT as BT could easily afford to absorb the losses - but in sense it would take a very big slice out of BT's profits.
mlt11 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-11-2013, 19:11
1andrew1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,981
Based on the above, the logical position for BT would seem to be to hang on in there for the long term, bid for some more Premiership packages but not at any cost and pick up a portfolio of other rights like cricket and golf over the next few years.

Except the earlier Sunday Times article by Simon King stated that in 2017, an Ofcom review is likely to force BT to wholesale its fibre broadband on more favourable terms. Would this encourage a more aggressive stance on Premiership bidding in 2015 as King suggested?
1andrew1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-11-2013, 13:53
Smidster
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 174
Not specifically BT related but the major news in Canadian Sports media is a new deal for NHL coverage to cover the next 12 Years.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=693152&navid=DL|NHL|home

I recognise there is a European element to consider but theoretically could BT / Sky try to do something similar and lock top pick packages for a prolonged period of time? I would have thought the Premier League would be amenable given a large enough cheque.
Smidster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-11-2013, 14:41
popeye13
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: England, E.Midlands & London
Posts: 7,694
Not specifically BT related but the major news in Canadian Sports media is a new deal for NHL coverage to cover the next 12 Years.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=693152&navid=DL|NHL|home

I recognise there is a European element to consider but theoretically could BT / Sky try to do something similar and lock top pick packages for a prolonged period of time? I would have thought the Premier League would be amenable given a large enough cheque.
Its mostly how North American sports are sold. One a long licence usually for 8+ years.
The Premier League would never go that route because they like getting MORE money every 3 years
popeye13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-11-2013, 19:08
MartS
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: West Midlands (OK Birmingham!)
Posts: 2,285
If I was in charge of BT Sport, I wouldn't have gone for CL/Europa rights, I would have focused my efforts in bagging the Monday night 8pm package of games - along with retaining 1st pick and the other package of 18 games. It would bring the total to over 50 live games per season, drop Sky down below the 100 barrier - and give them a weekday evening football presence.

Secretly, I hope BT and Sky get their heads together and offer a joint bid for all the live rights at the next round of live rights - then sort out who gets which games between themselves.

Al Jezzera are busy pushing the beIN Sport brand around the world, and the UK can't be too far down on the list to try and barge their way in to (even though there is absolutly no need for 3 different pay tv sports channel providers), so colluding a lock-out between Sky and BT would be good business sense for them, and for the subscribers offer a bit of stability for once, getting off the treadmill of a new rights holder for some of the packages changing every three years
MartS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-11-2013, 19:55
gs1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,061
If I was in charge of BT Sport, I wouldn't have gone for CL/Europa rights, I would have focused my efforts in bagging the Monday night 8pm package of games - along with retaining 1st pick and the other package of 18 games. ......
BT's general manager TV product and TV Everywhere, recently said:

“It’s absolutely key for BT to develop its TV proposition and become a significant player in the TV space ....
From Digital TV Europe:
http://www.digitaltveurope.net/12460...band-strategy/

They are some way behind other providers in tv, so I think that landing exclusive live Champions League rights was an important act of intent, needed now rather than later.

There is a risk that BT could have waited until the next Premier League rights auction, but that it would have delayed the momentum of their Fibre service and TV platform, and they could ultimately get outmaneuvered by Sky (or another party) in the Premier League auction.

I think that the argument that Gavin Patterson, BT CEO, recently put forward seems reasonable:
What we’ve been able to do in getting the Champions League, it’s given us better optionality into the Premier League,” he said. “We can take different positions, we’re not necessarily boxed in......
From Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-1...dominance.html
gs1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-11-2013, 21:29
tellyadict
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Hadfield, Derbyshire
Posts: 3,910
w/e 17 Nov 2013

ESPN
w/e 17 Nov 2013
1 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (SUN 1400) 12
2 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (SAT 1701) 11
3 NASCAR SPRINT CUP HIGHLIGHTS (MON 2100) 9
4 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (SUN 0701) 9
5 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (SAT 2050) 9
6 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (WED 1001) 8
7 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (FRI 0958) 8
8 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (MON 1413) 7
9 NASCAR SPRINT CUP HIGHLIGHTS (WED 1300) 6
10 ESPN FILLERS (13) (SUN 0925) 6
Hope the above shows to them that College Football punches above its weight in terms of cost/viewers.

With the ever growing popularity of NFL hope they keep showing it at current levels.
tellyadict is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 27-11-2013, 23:09
RobSmithS
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 724
Hope the above shows to them that College Football punches above its weight in terms of cost/viewers.

With the ever growing popularity of NFL hope they keep showing it at current levels.
Top 10 7-12,000 viewers and everything else under 6,000? Surely it is more likely they just ditch all of that?
RobSmithS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 01:13
JackFoley
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 712
Sky Italy, who got exclusive MotoGP rights in Italy, announced today that, for MotoGP qualifyings and races will have 4 additional signals alongside the world fed: 2 onboards, a "fly view" which is I guess a helicopter or panoramic view of the race and a Quad Mix. I guess BT Sports will have something similar
JackFoley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 03:47
ep1987
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 699
Top 10 7-12,000 viewers and everything else under 6,000? Surely it is more likely they just ditch all of that?
Low rights cost + loyal fanbase = subscriptions (both to BT Sports and to triple play) worth keeping

I'll be cancelling Bt Sports quite soon as i don't follow RU and outside of football (of which Sky + FTA still has plenty) BT's rights portfolio isn't worth the cost once the CFB season is over (UFC is all i'd miss).

If they announced extensive NBA coverage + a continuation of MLB then i'd stay. But i've been less than impressed with their lack of diversity with regards to sports rights, passing up several opportunities in order to focus almost exclusively on football.
ep1987 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 09:51
Jokanovic
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: West London
Posts: 5,660
If I was in charge of BT Sport, I wouldn't have gone for CL/Europa rights, I would have focused my efforts in bagging the Monday night 8pm package of games - along with retaining 1st pick and the other package of 18 games. It would bring the total to over 50 live games per season, drop Sky down below the 100 barrier - and give them a weekday evening football presence.

Secretly, I hope BT and Sky get their heads together and offer a joint bid for all the live rights at the next round of live rights - then sort out who gets which games between themselves.

Al Jezzera are busy pushing the beIN Sport brand around the world, and the UK can't be too far down on the list to try and barge their way in to (even though there is absolutly no need for 3 different pay tv sports channel providers), so colluding a lock-out between Sky and BT would be good business sense for them, and for the subscribers offer a bit of stability for once, getting off the treadmill of a new rights holder for some of the packages changing every three years
But those rights were not up for auction at that time. Getting CL rights is huge. They can now focus on the next PL rights when the time comes.
Jokanovic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 12:37
RobSmithS
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 724
Interesting article here from Matt Scott, insideworldfootball.com:

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/m...e-sky-falls-in

A 24/7 sports broadcaster that has access to premium football in the midweek only for 25 days of the year and at the weekend over only 38 Premier League games has an awful lot of dead time. (BT has done much to big up the value of its rugby-union presence and whatnot, but the fact is live football is all that matters to paying customers.)

Maximum of 35 Champions League matches involving English clubs - and only if all four teams competing in the group stages progress to the semi-finals with two reaching the final - then BT has paid more than £8.5 million for each of those matches.
RobSmithS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 14:16
gomezz
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Buckingham
Posts: 28,544
football is all that matters to paying customer
Not to this customer. The only thing on BT Sport that matters to me involves much bigger balls than that.
gomezz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 14:51
popeye13
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: England, E.Midlands & London
Posts: 7,694

The NBA

http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/S...5-D32F2B1D0C0C
popeye13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 14:57
tony le mesmer
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 802
tony le mesmer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 15:13
Jason C
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Bexleyheath, SE London
Posts: 17,449
Had to laugh at the BT Sport advert inside today's Metro for the 12 PL games it claims to be showing over "the festive period" - when the games actually span December 1st to January 18th.
Jason C is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 15:39
batdude_uk1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 69,157
Fantastic news, but they took their time to get this sorted!

Now I just hope that it is the American commentators, and studio, rather than using British people off tube, as they (BT) did for the pre-season game up at Manchester.
batdude_uk1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 16:02
whedon247
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 17,297
NBA is the worst north american sport, i hope BT go for NHL next time it becomes available.
whedon247 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 17:01
Tribute
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 796
NBA is the worst north american sport, i hope BT go for NHL next time it becomes available.
By 'worst' you of course meant your least favourite.
Tribute is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 17:17
mlt11
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,163
Good contract win for BT - I would regard NBA as the 2nd most important American sports contract for the UK audience (after NFL).

It also shows that BT are continuing to spend and add content notwithstanding the recent CL rights win. OK, this will have cost peanuts in comparison but it's still something and we don't know whether Sky also bid for it - they may well have done which would have forced the price up a bit.
mlt11 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 17:27
mlt11
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17,163
Interesting article here from Matt Scott, insideworldfootball.com:

"A 24/7 sports broadcaster that has access to premium football in the midweek only for 25 days of the year and at the weekend over only 38 Premier League games has an awful lot of dead time. (BT has done much to big up the value of its rugby-union presence and whatnot, but the fact is live football is all that matters to paying customers.)

Maximum of 35 Champions League matches involving English clubs - and only if all four teams competing in the group stages progress to the semi-finals with two reaching the final - then BT has paid more than £8.5 million for each of those matches."

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/m...e-sky-falls-in
Disagree with what that article is saying - of course top live football is the most important content but it isn't all that matters. Different content will pull in different subscribers and most people subscribe for an all round package that they think is worth the price they are being asked to pay.

Plus all the numbers in his article are wrong. It would actually be 33 days and 47 CL matches, he's valued the EL at zero and his average price is therefore also wrong as he's got the wrong cost and the wrong number of matches in his calculation. Hopeless.
mlt11 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 28-11-2013, 17:29
tellyadict
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Hadfield, Derbyshire
Posts: 3,910
Fantastic news, but they took their time to get this sorted!

Now I just hope that it is the American commentators, and studio, rather than using British people off tube, as they (BT) did for the pre-season game up at Manchester.
Indeed, apart from The NFL, where I enjoy the studio, I much prefer the US build up even if it means more adverts. Some of the uk people are poor. At minimum I am sure they will have US commentary.
tellyadict is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 17:08.