Champions League on pay TV only?

radiowaves

Elmo wrote: »

Will BT just put it in the clear on FreeView? FTV on cable services/Pay Satellite?
Have they made announcement on how they plan to provide a certain number of games FTA/FTV? And will UPC Ireland be included in there FTV plans?

Made notable by the fact that Sky moved a number of games to Sky1 there's little doubt that UEFA like maximum exposure for at least one game each matchweek to appease sponsors.

I'm certain that there would've been negotiations to this effect when BT made their massive offer. Otherwise promising to show some games for free is a strange one considering their investment. The only way this would make sense is for the games to be shown FTA so that the loss of ITV's exposure is minimalised.

Announcements haven't even been made about subscriptions, let alone delivery, but the next few months will be interesting.

Nobody knows what their plans for Freeview are yet but they might well put a channel there for the free games and as a promo channel for their pay offerings.

icdg

Champions League posts from UTV thread moved here

redabbey

icdg wrote: »

Unlikely to be actually strictly speaking FTA on BT Sport due to rights issues; more likely to be FTV (ie available to all with a Sky viewing card), streamed to all UK IPs on BT Sport website, or sublicenced to a UK FTA broadcaster. Note that being FTA on BT Sport would keep it off both Freesat and Freeview.

It will be FTA on Saorview on RTE Two, of course (not TV3, though the latter will have the Super Cup)

None of this has anything to do with UTV of course, who don't really have any control over any of this. I wouldn't advise investing in free to air satellite if your sole purpose is to watch the Champions League on ITV (though there are many other reasons to do so!)

I think we got the clearest indication yesterday of how unlikely that is, despite the story in the Telegraph some time back. BT are providing the FA Cup match Bradford v Reading free (no indication of if its's FTA or FTV) next month.

radiowaves

redabbey wrote: »

I think we got the clearest indication yesterday of how unlikely that is, despite the story in the Telegraph some time back. BT are providing the FA Cup match Bradford v Reading free (no indication of if its's FTA or FTV) next month.

There was indication in their very first communication on the matter.

It is FTV on Sky and free on the BT website.

TAFKAlawhec

There's no real way for BT Sport on their own to show coverage to Freeview viewers FTA - BT Sports 2 has already gone from DTT while BT Sports 1 will go at the end of the Premiership season. Plus they use MPEG4 video encoding for BT Sports 1, which would render most Freeview (non-HD) receivers unable to view it anyway.

It's also not practical to show BT Sport coverage FTA at present, with their transponder coverage being on a European beam rather than the narrower UK & Ireland beam. That could change once Astra 2G is fully up and running and that most transponders should be able to switch between wide and narrow beams depending on what is required.

I suspect that for the "partial" FTA games BT have promised, they will likely be tendered to a third-party to broadcast on Freeview and Freesat.

B17G

Champions League media rights, last update 31 March:

http://www.uefa.org/MultimediaFiles/Download/Publications/uefaorg/Marketing/01/96/76/90/1967690_DOWNLOAD.pdf

Europa League, last update 27 February:

http://www.uefa.org/MultimediaFiles/Download/Publications/uefaorg/Marketing/01/96/76/92/1967692_DOWNLOAD.pdf

For Ireland is the Europa League Final itself behind a paywall?

Also for the UK, has ITV got the highlights rights for this?

EDIT: ITV4 for for EL highlights.

http://www.uefa.com/news/newsid=2025645.html

icdg

B17G wrote: »

For Ireland is the Europa League Final itself behind a paywall?

From next season yes, Setanta will have exclusive rights.

B17G

icdg wrote: »

From next season yes, Setanta will have exclusive rights.

Thanks. Similar for the UK, EL final just on BT Sport? What about the Champions League Final over there, will BT show it FTA?

irishfeen

B17G wrote: »

Thanks. Similar for the UK, EL final just on BT Sport? What about the Champions League Final over there, will BT show it FTA?

I would imagine BT will give it to the BBC or ITV - too much cost setting up a channel just for that event.... think it could be on the BBC actually, they seem to have a good working relationship with BT - most recent being the Clare Balding Show on both the BBC and BT.

B17G

irishfeen wrote: »

I would imagine BT will give it to the BBC or ITV - too much cost setting up a channel just for that event.... think it could be on the BBC actually, they seem to have a good working relationship with BT - most recent being the Clare Balding Show on both the BBC and BT.

Cheers. Reason i was asking about the CL final being FTA for UK viewers, is that a certain amount of games are due to be shown FTA despite BT having exclusivity on live rights. How will these games be actually shown? Will they be full FTA, or FTV with a card still needed to view, if viewing via a Sky box?

icdg

The BBC won't happen unfortunately due to UEFA's sponsorship requirements. It's not insurmountable but would require compensation or alternative opportunities to be put in place. It's the reason why ITV have always had the Champions League up till now.

irishfeen

icdg wrote: »

The BBC won't happen unfortunately due to UEFA's sponsorship requirements. It's not insurmountable but would require compensation or alternative opportunities to be put in place. It's the reason why ITV have always had the Champions League up till now.

I think UEFA came out and said they could come to an agreement with the BBC if they ever did win rights - Champions League Final on a primetime BBC schedule of Saturday evening would draw massive viewership.

irishfeen

B17G wrote: »

Cheers. Reason i was asking about the CL final being FTA for UK viewers, is that a certain amount of games are due to be shown FTA despite BT having exclusivity on live rights. How will these games be actually shown? Will they be full FTA, or FTV with a card still needed to view, if viewing via a Sky box?

I would presume FTV on all platforms across the UK but in reality it will be FTA because its highly likely it will be ITV or BBC.

lertsnim

icdg wrote: »

The BBC won't happen unfortunately due to UEFA's sponsorship requirements. It's not insurmountable but would require compensation or alternative opportunities to be put in place. It's the reason why ITV have always had the Champions League up till now.

As BT have already payed way over the odds for the rights would UEFA be bothered?

icdg

The sponsors would, they don't care how much UEFA are getting, they pay to be seen on all Champions League broadcasts in and out of evey break. As I say it's not an insurmountable obstacle, but they would expect compensation.

Joo0

BT have spent so much on the rights I just don't see them sub letting them off to another station. I can see them starting a FTA version of BTSport show the champions league on it and also showcase other content. CL magazine shows, sports news etc in order to promote subscriptions to the full package.

icdg

If anything it will go the other way and the BT Sport Champions League service will be a separate premium service, at least in the UK. My view is that the most likely option for the "FTA" games now is that they would be shown as UK IP restricted streams on the BT Sport website and app. I wouldn't rule at a deal with ITV still, but as time ticks away it looks less and less likely.

irishfeen

Just watching the masters on the BBC and on their own leader board caption they include AT&T (the American Phone company) - just shows sponsoring might not be an surmountable challenge for the broadcaster in relation to the Champions League.

icdg

They've been willing to do that alright in sporting events, including using the sponsored titles and logos. But I think it would be a bridge too far for the BBC to actually air the stings - they are effectively commercials. Plus because they don't air commercials they'd be effectively randomly interrupting their programmes to do so.

STB.

So no change here so with Tuesdays and Wednesdays remaining split netween RTE and Tv3.

irishfeen

STB. wrote: »

So no change here so with Tuesdays and Wednesdays remaining split netween RTE and Tv3.

Yes and it looks like TV3 will be in HD too for those without BT.

icdg

RTE and TV3 are the same as before effectively except for the Super Cup (which is tied to the Champions League rights) going from RTE to TV3 and the fact that their rights are no longer exclusive.

There's a slight change to Setanta's rights - they've gone from "second and subsequent matches" to "all matches" (one of which is non-exclusve) This I imagine was done to facilitate the broadcasting of BT's coverage here.

irishfeen

icdg wrote: »

They've been willing to do that alright in sporting events, including using the sponsored titles and logos. But I think it would be a bridge too far for the BBC to actually air the stings - they are effectively commercials. Plus because they don't air commercials they'd be effectively randomly interrupting their programmes to do so.

I think you could have UEFA allowing the BBC just to use the logos of Gazprom and others on say team lineups instead of actually playing the ads ... Of course it's all relative as ITV could just take the rights too.

dublinman1990

irishfeen wrote: »

Yes and it looks like TV3 will be in HD too for those without BT.

For Sky and UPC customers only. No HD on Saorview.

redabbey

icdg wrote: »

If anything it will go the other way and the BT Sport Champions League service will be a separate premium service, at least in the UK. My view is that the most likely option for the "FTA" games now is that they would be shown as UK IP restricted streams on the BT Sport website and app. I wouldn't rule at a deal with ITV still, but as time ticks away it looks less and less likely.

My opinion is that it would be commercial suicide for BT Sport to have an extra level of subscription on top of the level to watch their existing coverage.

Again I also disagree that their promise to show some matches FTA would be restricted to the net as they will need to sell as much advertising as possible to help fund their coverage on top of subscriptions and this requires ratings.

Anyway, none of us know and your guess could be better than mine but I would imagine you would agree that when BT Sport got those rights about a year and a half ago that they then would go on and make a lot more sporting rights acquisitions in the intervening period, given the deep pockets of BT Sport compared with previous broadcasters who entered the market.

icdg

redabbey wrote: »

My opinion is that it would be commercial suicide for BT Sport to have an extra level of subscription on top of the level to watch their existing coverage.

Again I also disagree that their promise to show some matches FTA would be restricted to the net as they will need to sell as much advertising as possible to help fund their coverage on top of subscriptions and this requires ratings.

Anyway, none of us know and your guess could be better than mine but I would imagine you would agree that when BT Sport got those rights about a year and a half ago that they then would go on and make a lot more sporting rights acquisitions in the intervening period, given the deep pockets of BT Sport compared with previous broadcasters who entered the market.

Its based chiefly on the fact that if BT Sport is already a loss leader, it will be a further drain on BT Group's (admittedly deep) pockets to fund the £900m payment to UEFA (on top of around the same again to the Premier League from 2016 onwards) without any extra income coming in. You have to remember the situation in the UK is different to here. Here most BT Sport viewers are paying a premium subscription already. In the UK, that's not the case. Most BT Sport domestic viewers there are getting it bundled with their BT Broadband (available for as little as £7.50 on top of their line rental).

redabbey

icdg wrote: »

Its based chiefly on the fact that if BT Sport is already a loss leader, it will be a further drain on BT Group's (admittedly deep) pockets to fund the £900m payment to UEFA (on top of around the same again to the Premier League from 2016 onwards) without any extra income coming in. You have to remember the situation in the UK is different to here. Here most BT Sport viewers are paying a premium subscription already. In the UK, that's not the case. Most BT Sport domestic viewers there are getting it bundled with their BT Broadband (available for as little as £7.50 on top of their line rental).

Sorry, I am a little confused now. I presumed that that the extra subscription that you mentioned for Champions League from next season on BT Sport was to do with satellite broadcasting only. So just to clarify were you not suggesting a two tier satellite subscription for BT Sport on any of the television platforms they broadcast on?

icdg

I meant in the UK, of course as we're already paying a premium subscription here.

In the UK it is possible to subscribe to BT Sport as a standalone premium channel (on satellite), in a similar fashion to how we can do via Setanta here. My understanding is that practically no one does so. I wouldn't envisage that changing, though the price might go up. My comment was more in reference to those getting the channel bundled free with BT Broadband.

redabbey

icdg wrote: »

I meant in the UK, of course as we're already paying a premium subscription here.

In the UK it is possible to subscribe to BT Sport as a standalone premium channel (on satellite), in a similar fashion to how we can do via Setanta here. My understanding is that practically no one does so. I wouldn't envisage that changing, though the price might go up. My comment was more in reference to those getting the channel bundled free with BT Broadband.

Of course I understand the subscription difference for the UK when subscribing to BT Sport on a TV platform in the UK compared with the broadband options. Yes, I fully expect the subscription costs to go up for subscribing in the UK on a TV broadcasting platform to increase (just as I would expect the bundled subscription with Setanta to increase here) but I don't envisage a two tier subscription offering for any TV platform just to be able to view the Champions League matches next season. If it was never your intention to suggest this to be the case for a TV platform then I have clearly misunderstood your original post. The broadband options in the UK never entered my mind when I read your post as I thought this forum was purely talking about the options to see Champions League matches on TV next season.

icdg

To make it absolutely clear: Viewers in the UK who have BT Broadband and Sky can ask BT to authorise BT Sport on their Sky viewing card and they will do so for no additional fee. That's why, as I say, I would be surprised if there are any substantial numbers in the UK taking BT Sport as a standalone premium channel at present.