BT Buys ESPN UK

[Tee]

Nah

I got an email sayin the sub will end in June or July

Will look for the email

[The King]

BT Sport has acquired an exclusive five-year deal to broadcast MotoGP in the UK, taking over from the BBC from the 2014 season.

 

All grands prix, qualifying and practice sessions will be shown live under the new deal, which was confirmed at a presentation in London's Olympic Park on Thursday.

 

BT Sport also plans to host full coverage of both Moto2 and Moto3.

 

In addition to full race coverage, it will also operate a 'second screen' function, giving viewers the chance to watch races from riders' on-board cameras.

 

MotoGP commercial chief Carmelo Ezpeleta had previously stressed the importance of free to air TV, but said BT Sport was better positioned to bring viewers an increased level of coverage and interaction.

 

"We were looking for a partner to increase the visibility of our sport, and I think BT is the best place to develop in the future," he said.

 

"The market has changed, and the possibilities with BT are amazing. A big audience used to be the most important factor; now customers want more.

 

"The BBC were very good to us, but this is exactly like the switch from 500s - we need to have something capable of growing with us."

 

While exact scheduling plans are yet to be decided, BT confirmed it plans at the least to show every session live via its new BT Sport App.

 

The commentary and presenting teams are also yet to be confirmed, but BT plans to include ex-professionals among its panel. Coverage will be hosted on-site with additional studio content from the new Olympic Park facility.

[Tee]

Answered

Options

on ‎27-04-2013 10:43 AM

Good Morning,

Our agreed carriage date of the channel with ESPN has come to an end. Subsequent to BT’s acquisition of ESPN on 25th February of this year, a new agreement couldn't be reached. Because of this, on 31st July 2013, the ESPN subscription will be removed as an a la carte on Sky TV. ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN America, ESPN America HD and ESPN Classic channels will also cease to exist on the Sky TV subscription platform from this date and won’t be able to view ESPN content or channels through their Sky TV subscription anymore.

You won't be billed for their ESPN subscription after this date either. Your bill immediately before the 31 July will pro-rata how many days left of the subscription they have before the channel closure, and charge the a representative amount. If you wish to cancel your ESPN subscription now, then you can do this by providing a 31 day cancellation at your MySky.

I hope this information has helped answer your question. If so, then please click Answered as this may help other customers with a similar question. If not, then please post your query on the relevant board in our Help Forum.

Thanks,

jason-d

Community Coordinator

Forum Help http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/help/faqpage

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[Tee]

http://tv.espn.co.uk/gb/espl/faq/espn-and-bt/

[R1.]

Ah well looks like I'll be watch MotoGP on streams next year.

[mp*]

Once I got ufc n football I'm bless, I'm on bt as well so from what I read it's free? Need to Holla them

[Tee]

413 and 414 sky channels

[The Somalian]

So no German,, French Italian, Dutch, American or Brazilian football or certain international games? No more press pass?

[time_bomb]

if they just add NHL to the football and ufc thats a cop.

 

im on virgin though and they havent sorted no deal yet smh

[O Fenomeno]

So no German,, French Italian, Dutch, American or Brazilian football or certain international games? No more press pass?

Horrible right?

[Tee]

Didn't they take over all the rights espn had tho ?

[Adotbiz]

There still showing Italian and French games..

[Mame Biram Diouf]

No German?

 

FFS

[O Fenomeno]

WHTV is a god send

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Last time I used it quality was pointless

 

Got better?

[O Fenomeno]

A lot better

I was watching four Dutch games at once weekend gone

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Three channels – BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and the ESPN channel in the UK and Ireland, which BT has acquired – will be available only via BT Broadband or through Sky's satellite dishes, and will broadcast the Premier League and FA Cup, as well as football from Germany, France, Italy, Brazil and Scotland's Premier League. It will also show women's tennis and women's Super League football as well as an array of minority sports from Moto GP to the Ultimate Fighting Championship

 

[The Somalian]

What happens to the under 21 games? Love espn. Seen the 413 and 414 channel is it free? Might aswell cancel my espn subscription end of this month.

[Tee]

What do you get in the package?

It will be providing three channels - BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN - with the headline offering the 38 Premier League football matches it paid £736million for the rights to when it bought ESPN.

Of these matches, 18 will be 'first pick', meaning it will get first refusal of which game it wants to show ahead of Sky Sports on 18 match days a season.

It will also show FA Cup. Europa League, Scottish Premier League, and Italian, German, French, Australian and Brazilian league matches.

Rugby union fans will be attracted by the 69 Aviva Premiership matches it will be showing, for which BT will be the sole and exclusive broadcaster.

There will also be women's tennis, UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), Moto GP and women's football.

It will be available through BT Vision, Sky or Youview set-top boxes, while broadband customers will also be able to stream it on their computers, or through their tablets or phones through a new app.

There is no indication yet if it will be available through Virgin Media.

How much does it cost?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2322440/BT-Sport-offers-Premier-League-coverage-free-live.html#ixzz2SuaY2B2p

Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Tee]

They bought all of espn's rights

So they should be showing the same things

I don't think that includes nba tho as that's a season to season deal

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Secrets do not often remain so in football – witness the last few days – but until Richard Scudamore, the Premier League's chief executive, opened the sealed bids aimed at securing rights to sport's most expensive entity nobody, not even Scudamore himself, had an inkling of the arrival of a new player.

 

BT's interest in the Premier League came out of left field but its successful bid, all £738m of it, for 38 matches introduced the biggest threat to Sky's two decades of dominance. Both sides deny it, but this is a broadcasting war and at its heart is a battle of the bands.

 

The business of selling broadband provides the bottom line for BT and sporting inducement has become a key part in that. Sky, stressing its long-term commitment across sports, responded to BT's launch with a pointed statement: "For us, sport isn't a marketing gimmick to promote another product."

 

But at Sky's west London base it is squeaky-bottom time, as someone once said, about what is developing at BT's new studios in the capital's east. BT, with its deep pockets, will last longer than Setanta and ESPN, both seen off with a degree of comfort. This is, as one industry source put it, a "game changer".

 

Who has got what

 

"We are where Sky were 20 years ago," said Jake Humphrey, who will front BT's coverage. "They began with 40 games."

It is a somewhat disingenuous stance. Yes, Sky remain in pole position with the Premier League, having paid £2.28bn for the privilege. They have 116 games and more first picks – BT have 18, Sky 20.

 

But in the past Sky have had all first picks; it means a significant number of the season's pivotal games will be live on BT.

 

BT paid £152m to secure Premiership rugby from next season. It will also show domestic football from Italy, Germany, Brazil, France and the United States, as well as the Scottish Premier League and the Europa League, and it has taken on ESPN's final year of the FA Cup. Sky counters with the Football League, Spanish football and the heavyweight of the Champions League.

 

BT, with two sports channels to fill, announced the rights to MotoGP to go alongside those of the women's tennis tour. BT will also show Women's Super League games live. Across all sport, Sky still has a strong portfolio, particularly in cricket, tennis and golf, although it stands to lose the Heineken Cup.

 

Who they have got

 

Sky's latest recruit, Jamie Carragher, adds to an already impressive stable. The line-up BT revealed of Steve McManaman, Owen Hargreaves, David James and Michael Owen does not stand comparison to Carragher, Gary Neville and Graeme Souness. James is the most interesting, a thoughtful and potentially spiky presence – he criticised Neville's dual role as a TV pundit and an England coach, describing it as a "conflict of interest".

 

Head-to-head

 

The promises in the Olympic Park, where BT will be based, were of "changing the face of sports broadcasting". Which makes it difficult to see where Tim Lovejoy presenting a Saturday morning show fits in.

 

BT's match presentation will be different. A studio audience will be involved, as will a section of a pitch for pundits to demonstrate their analysis. It is an innovative and interesting move, one that James is particularly keen on. BT's other strength is Humphrey himself, an adept and easy-mannered broadcaster (ditto Clare Balding, who will present a chat show).

In contrast, Sky will maintain its policy of not having a particular frontman – arguing that it's the pundits who are key.

 

What they want

 

On Tuesday the FA put the rights for England home friendlies and the FA Cup out to tender. That is a target for BT – one ITV and the BBC will fight for. BT has already shown it is prepared to spend and will continue to do so come the next Premier League contract, which will be bid for in 2015. The aim then will be for more games and BT will pay for them. Sky will fight tooth and nail to hold what it has.

 

 

What they cost

 

Nothing was BT's headline announcement. That's a nothing provided you are one of the provider's five million broadband customers. BT standard broadband is £10 a month, with fibre broadband £15 a month. If a Sky customer has BT broadband then they will get the new channels for free.  That is SD for free and HD (standard price £3 a month extra) free for 12 months if they sign up before  August 1, 2013.

 

After Sky has been forced to spend so much on Premier League rights, there has been speculation that the broadcaster may have to raise prices – the sports package costs around £21 a month – although that is unlikely for the time being, given BT's initial pricing, notably its claim to offer packages to pubs that are 80 per cent cheaper than Sky's.

 

Good read

[Kurtis]

hold on, theyll have tablet apps?

 

nah fam, im on infinity and I will actually check that out when the channel starts

[LS]

The thing with ESPN and the previous ones like Sentanta  is that they never had a massive fan base.  BT is huge

 

Apparently Sky didn't want BT to go into football 'cause they took all their broadband customers and never took the other competition seriously.   I heard that BT are giving these channels away free possibly for some of their customers (probs with the BB package) 

 

I think BT may be around for a long time possibly getting bigger and more football games.

 

Obviously Sky is well clear atm but BT Sport could be a decent thing happening.   That's if they giving it away free to me  Otherwise i'll allow it

[O Fenomeno]

This won't end well

[Tee]

Yea it's free if you got bt bb