BT Vision targets 'football homeless'
BT has unveiled details for its new internet TV sports service, BT Vision Sport, positioning it as an economical offering for the "football homeless" who are out-priced by Sky Sports.
For £4 per month sports fans will gain access to 242 Premier League games available on-demand from 10pm on match day, as well as 125 Football League and Carling Cup games from 24 hours after the final whistle.
For £12 per month, BT will increase its offering to include 46 live Premier League games, 60 Scottish league matches, a selection of European League football and additional sports including boxing and the PGA golf tour.
BT has struck a deal with partner Setanta, but has no rights to any Sky Sports football matches. BT is holding talks with Sky Sports about rights to its matches.
The company is also offering the football matches on a pay-per-view basis for £1.99.
BSkyB, which has most of the prime English Premiership matches, charges £34for its sports channels.
Dan Marks, chief executive of BT Vision, said that the company was aiming to "exploit the middle ground" between free services and subscription services.
"We know a lot of people are passionate about sport but many don't access for various reasons," said Steve Norris, the head of BT Vision Sport.
One reason was often because of a "financial handbrake" on the cost of services and that "not everyone is a fan of the big four" - a reference to the main Premiership teams that dominate Sky's coverage, he said.
"The most compelling fact is that if you take the total BT sports subscription package you will get 75% of all Premiership matches both live and on-demand," he added. "For £3 a week, maybe BT will be the new home for the football homeless."
Non-BT customers will need to stump up £17.99 for BT Broadband, and there is a £30 connection fee and £60 fee for engineer installation of the free set-top box, called the V-Box.
Mr Marks said that BT Vision was aiming for the "fairly ambitious" target of attracting a "six-figure" number of subscribers by the end of the year and "two to three million in the medium term".
In the first instance the service will be targeted at BT's existing 3.7 million broadband customers.
The total BT Vision service combines the delivery of Freeview channels through a set-top box and on-demand programming delivered via broadband.
BT has struck around 60 content deals for programming to include films, music and TV shows. It offers all of its entertainment on-demand content for £14, or users can opt to pay-per-view from 99p to £3.
Regards Satdude. :thum:
BT has unveiled details for its new internet TV sports service, BT Vision Sport, positioning it as an economical offering for the "football homeless" who are out-priced by Sky Sports.
For £4 per month sports fans will gain access to 242 Premier League games available on-demand from 10pm on match day, as well as 125 Football League and Carling Cup games from 24 hours after the final whistle.
For £12 per month, BT will increase its offering to include 46 live Premier League games, 60 Scottish league matches, a selection of European League football and additional sports including boxing and the PGA golf tour.
BT has struck a deal with partner Setanta, but has no rights to any Sky Sports football matches. BT is holding talks with Sky Sports about rights to its matches.
The company is also offering the football matches on a pay-per-view basis for £1.99.
BSkyB, which has most of the prime English Premiership matches, charges £34for its sports channels.
Dan Marks, chief executive of BT Vision, said that the company was aiming to "exploit the middle ground" between free services and subscription services.
"We know a lot of people are passionate about sport but many don't access for various reasons," said Steve Norris, the head of BT Vision Sport.
One reason was often because of a "financial handbrake" on the cost of services and that "not everyone is a fan of the big four" - a reference to the main Premiership teams that dominate Sky's coverage, he said.
"The most compelling fact is that if you take the total BT sports subscription package you will get 75% of all Premiership matches both live and on-demand," he added. "For £3 a week, maybe BT will be the new home for the football homeless."
Non-BT customers will need to stump up £17.99 for BT Broadband, and there is a £30 connection fee and £60 fee for engineer installation of the free set-top box, called the V-Box.
Mr Marks said that BT Vision was aiming for the "fairly ambitious" target of attracting a "six-figure" number of subscribers by the end of the year and "two to three million in the medium term".
In the first instance the service will be targeted at BT's existing 3.7 million broadband customers.
The total BT Vision service combines the delivery of Freeview channels through a set-top box and on-demand programming delivered via broadband.
BT has struck around 60 content deals for programming to include films, music and TV shows. It offers all of its entertainment on-demand content for £14, or users can opt to pay-per-view from 99p to £3.
Regards Satdude. :thum: