Sports Extra (TNT/Premier)

redabbey · 24-03-2013 5:03pm

energy1942 wrote: »

I spoke to the bt sport press office yesterday & was told that no decision had been taken as to whether their new sports channels will be launched in Ireland.

they continue to point out that they do not currently operate tv or broadband in ROI, they told me it is a possibility that the premier league could be wholesaled to another platform in ROI if they do not have the rights to show other sports in ROI.

The organ grinders are very often the last to know. It is not as if it will add any potential extra hassle for them to deal with Ireland from a call centre in the UK. Of course they will launch here. There is absolutely no way that their TV rights will be sub-contracted.

As far as I am aware the only rights that they will have that are not valid for the ROI is Europa League matches.

pricewise987 · 03-05-2013 9:58am

Mail from ESPN

BTSport is going to operate on Channel 417

No indication of how much extra this will cost..:eek:

=================================================================
If you have ESPN as part of your TV subscription package, your current subscription will end on 31 July 2013. You don't need to do anything now.
ESPN will continue on television next season (operated by BT) and ESPN will continue to own and operate all our digital properties, including ESPN.co.uk, ESPNcricinfo, ESPNFC and more.

What does this mean for you?BT will continue to broadcast an ESPN-branded channel as part of BT Sport, so you won't miss any great sporting content.
Next season on BT Sport and ESPN enjoy 38 exclusively live Barclays Premier League matches, Aviva Premiership rugby, FA Cup with Budweiser, UEFA Europa League, German Bundesliga, WTA tennis and more.

We will keep you informed on developments. You can also find more on the ESPN agreement with BT, by visiting our ESPN FAQs.
Enjoy the rest of this season.

======================================================

More info here

http://www.btlife.bt.com/entertainment/bt-group-acquires-espns-uk-and-ireland-television-channels-business/?s_intcid=con_intban_BTSport_BTLife_PR250213

watty · 03-05-2013 7:31pm

irishgeo wrote: »

ESPn was free in ireland as part of the sports sub last few years, i doubt that will continue for BT.

No, ESPN was only part of a pay TV subscription is my understanding. Free means you can get it without a subscription. There are ZERO free channels on Cable or MMDS, all the channels on a Aerial are free and there are many Free channels on many Satellites.

icdg · 04-05-2013 5:59pm

More accurate to say that most people in Ireland got ESPN by subscribing to something else, it was included in the Sky Sports package on Sky and all but the most basic package on UPC.

By way of contrast in the UK, while Virgin Media had a similar deal to UPC, Sky customers had to pay separately for ESPN.

icdg · 09-05-2013 12:14pm

So the big press launch this morning and unfortunately doesn't seem to be much info for Irish prices. Still no deal with Virgin Media in the UK and nothing about UPC in Ireland.

Some titbits of interest though: Grand Prix motorcycle racing, ladies football and tennis have been signed as additional rights deals. Michael Owen to be football co-commentator. Ray Stubbs staying but will now be "chief football reporter". Craig Doyle moving from ITV to present Premiership Rugby (which hopefully will mean he'll be too busy to do any more RTÉ chat shows). Rio Ferdinand and a good chunk of ESPN's on air talent also seem to have moved over. Tim Lovejoy to present a weekend morning show.

http://www.btlife.bt.com/entertainment/bt-sport-announces-a-great-line-up-of-sporting-talent/

peteeeed · 09-05-2013 12:48pm

BT Sport channels to be free to BT broadband customers, £15 for Sky(uk price)

When BT first announced that it was bidding for some of the Premier League live football rights, many were unsure how they would be used. Now we know.

BT Sport will be comprised of a suite of channels, with BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 2 joined by the newly acquired ESPN. And, most importantly, all output will be free to BT broadband customers. It will cost £3 per month for the HD services, but that fee will be waived for a year if customers sign up before 1 August.

High definition versions of the channels will also be available to non-BT broadband customers on Sky for £15 per month or £12 per month for just the standard definition broadcasts. There's no word yet on whether Virgin Media will be taking the BT Sport output.

A new app will be launched to bring BT Sport channels to PCs, smartphones and tablet devices, while customers wanting to watch them on a television will require a YouView and BT Vision+ set-top-box. Paid subscribers and Sky subscribers with BT broadband can also use a Sky+ or Sky+HD box.

The TV service will be delivered over broadband, and BT will handle all subscriptions for its sports services, even from Sky customers.

"UK Sports fans have had a rough deal for too long. Many have been priced out of the market but we will change this by giving away BT Sport for free with our broadband. Sports fans are the winners today," said Ian Livingston, BT chief executive.

"BT Sport will complement our world class fibre network. Customers don’t have to take BT Infinity to get BT Sport but we are encouraging them to move onto fibre broadband so they can enjoy the best of both worlds."

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/120927-bt-sport-channels-to-be-free-to-bt-broadband-customers-15-for-sky

MD1990 · 09-05-2013 1:03pm

will Setanta have live 3pm games next season?

channelsurfer2 · 09-05-2013 1:59pm

MD1990 wrote: »

will Setanta have live 3pm games next season?

Yes

byte · 09-05-2013 10:22pm

icdg wrote: »

Tim Lovejoy to present a weekend morning show.

http://www.btlife.bt.com/entertainment/bt-sport-announces-a-great-line-up-of-sporting-talent/

BT's answer to Soccer AM.. with the original SoccerAM presenter? He currently hosts a show on C4 Sunday mornings which isn't great (worse than SFTW that they did on BBC)

Frank Gallagher pissed · 10-05-2013 1:44am

**** this, I'll be watching the romanian stream down the jockey anyway lol

popebenny16 · 10-05-2013 1:06pm

does this mean press pass and pardon the interuption uk will still be running?? good shows for the post 11pm slot i think.

Manc-Red · 10-05-2013 3:10pm

Email I've just received from BT.

Hi Chris. In the Republic of Ireland, there are a number of platforms for Pay TV, including Sky and UPC. The BT Sport team is in discussions with a number of companies to make BT Sport available on these platforms and are fully confident that BT Sport will be available in the Republic of Ireland before soccer season begins. We'll release more details soon.
Best regards, Priscilla

jack presley · 10-05-2013 3:26pm

Manc-Red wrote: »

Email I've just received from BT.

Hi Chris. In the Republic of Ireland, there are a number of platforms for Pay TV, including Sky and UPC. The BT Sport team is in discussions with a number of companies to make BT Sport available on these platforms and are fully confident that BT Sport will be available in the Republic of Ireland before soccer season begins. We'll release more details soon.
Best regards, Priscilla

That's nearly word for word what the bloke said on Morning Ireland earlier. They must be reading from a script

kooga · 10-05-2013 4:20pm

i wonder as a taster will they have the first weekend of football a free pass weekend........to lure us in?

stuartfanning · 13-05-2013 8:38am

Given that BT Sport has rights to the Football, and other sports they will be airing, in ROI - why don't they just set the channels up on the IrishSky EPG as they have in the UK on the British EPG. The negotiation with Sky could have been done at the same as those for the UK>

dublinman1990 · 13-05-2013 1:34pm

On Thursday Night, I discovered that the BT Sports 1 Channel is presumably on for Test purposes via on a free to air satellite platform in Ireland. A screenshot graphic was seen like this below on my Triax TSC 114 Saorview combo box.

It is provided in the clear on the Eutelsat/Astra 28.2

http://en.kingofsat.net/detail-btsport1.php

IsMiseJoe · 13-05-2013 3:59pm

Some pointless info...

2 channels (similiar to the image above) were added to the sports section of the Sky EPG a few weeks ago named BT Sport 1 & 2 but were removed a few days later.

Digifriendly · 13-05-2013 10:59pm

IsMiseJoe wrote: »

Some pointless info...

2 channels (similiar to the image above) were added to the sports section of the Sky EPG a few weeks ago named BT Sport 1 & 2 but were removed a few days later.

They're avaliable here (NI) via Sky with repeat/rolling video advertising forthcoming sports to be featured.

Madworld · 14-05-2013 1:14am

Anyone have a clue as to what is likely going to happen to ESPN America??

14-05-2013 2:50pm

Madworld wrote: »

Anyone have a clue as to what is likely going to happen to ESPN America??

Its going to be Part of the BT sports package. You will have to take out the BT subs unless we get it free which is very unlikely.

What gripes me is that us irish subscribers got ESPN for free to make up for the price difference, are sky going to look after us when ESPN go in June?

jack presley · 14-05-2013 7:41pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Its going to be Part of the BT sports package. You will have to take out the BT subs unless we get it free which is very unlikely.

What gripes me is that us irish subscribers got ESPN for free to make up for the price difference, are sky going to look after us when ESPN go in June?

Did we ever find out why we've been stuck with ESPNA Lite the past year with all reference to the NFL being excluded? Was it because ESPN didn't want to pay for the rights, even brief one for use in a news format or was it because Sky got some exclusivity deal from the NFL preventing any clips beng shown on other satellite broadcasters?

I'm not too pushed on the Premier league or rugby or any of that kind of stuff so if we're going to be stuck with the watered down version of ESPNA I'm probably not going to bother getting the BT package. I'll get college football games online but if it goes back to the days of having full shows of ATH and PTI and we get Sportscenter etc. back, I might subscribe.

icdg · 14-05-2013 10:09pm

jack presley wrote: »

Did we ever find out why we've been stuck with ESPNA Lite the past year with all reference to the NFL being excluded? Was it because ESPN didn't want to pay for the rights, even brief one for use in a news format or was it because Sky got some exclusivity deal from the NFL preventing any clips beng shown on other satellite broadcasters?

ESPN America is a pan European broadcaster, but because of the interest in NFL in the UK & Ireland being far greater than in most of continental Europe, the NFL are able to offload rights directly to UK broadcasters rather than on a pan-European basis. This precludes EPSN America from airing these games in the UK. You might remember that ESPN did hold rights for Monday Night Football in 2010 and 2011 but this aired on ESPN UK not ESPN America.

I'm not too pushed on the Premier league or rugby or any of that kind of stuff so if we're going to be stuck with the watered down version of ESPNA I'm probably not going to bother getting the BT package. I'll get college football games online but if it goes back to the days of having full shows of ATH and PTI and we get Sportscenter etc. back, I might subscribe.

Its worse than that from your point of view so. ESPN is pulling completely out of Europe and ESPN America and ESPN Classic will be closing down. The ESPN UK channel, which will be taken over by BT Sport, will continue to show some of ESPN America's US/Canadian programming (including NCAA football/basketball and MLB) but will not be showing NFL. What ESPN US original programming it will show I don't know, but it should be pointed out that some UK programming will be aired on the channel for contractual reasons including most notably the FA Cup, so it won't be exactly a continuation of ESPN America.

jack presley · 14-05-2013 10:22pm

icdg wrote: »

ESPN America is a pan European broadcaster, but because of the interest in NFL in the UK & Ireland being far greater than in most of continental Europe, the NFL are able to offload rights directly to UK broadcasters rather than on a pan-European basis. This precludes EPSN America from airing these games in the UK. You might remember that ESPN did hold rights for Monday Night Football in 2010 and 2011 but this aired on ESPN UK not ESPN America.

It's not the actual games or even the Sunday Countdown show that I'm on about. It's the way that once ESPN UK lost those right you mentioned, it was as if the NFL didn't exist on ESPNA. Sportscenter, Sportsnation, DLHQ etc. which all included clips from NFL games were all cancelled and the ATH and PTI that we were left with had all the clips taken out and we are left looking at the hosts while they are describing something we're supposed to be seeing.

So my question is was it because the ESPN group refused to pay whatever small amount it costs to show clips in their news shows or magazine type shows or was it because Sky said "we have the rights here, we're not letting our rival show any NFL".

As they're basically shutting down their European operation, maybe they've been losing money for years and didn't want to be spending more than they have to which is why it is as it is? I'm just curious

Madworld · 14-05-2013 11:14pm

icdg wrote: »

. ESPN is pulling completely out of Europe and ESPN America and ESPN Classic will be closing down. The ESPN UK channel, which will be taken over by BT Sport, will continue to show some of ESPN America's US/Canadian programming (including NCAA football/basketball and MLB) but will not be showing NFL. What ESPN US original programming it will show I don't know, but it should be pointed out that some UK programming will be aired on the channel for contractual reasons including most notably the FA Cup, so it won't be exactly a continuation of ESPN America.

That's what I was thinking.

My main interest in ESPN America was for the College American Football.

I assume now that they'll only be showing the games which are on after midnight out time and even at that it will probably be taking a backseat to UFC & Baseball.

Think I'll just subscribe to the ESPN player.

Wils110 · 15-05-2013 1:33am

I was looking at the uk sky epg in work today and it listed bt sports as freesat.......will we be able to tune it in like itv

lertsnim · 15-05-2013 3:31pm

Wils110 wrote: »

I was looking at the uk sky epg in work today and it listed bt sports as freesat.......will we be able to tune it in like itv

It will be a subscription channel. Currently the promos are FTA. Only BT Broadband customers in the UK will get it for no extra charge

icdg · 15-05-2013 6:30pm

I've renamed the thread to make it clear this is THE BT Sport thread, I've closed I think four threads in Satellite in the past week so no more please.

TAFKAlawhec · 15-05-2013 11:30pm

lertsnim wrote: »

It will be a subscription channel. Currently the promos are FTA. Only BT Broadband customers in the UK will get it for no extra charge

As far as I understand it, BT Sport will be available to those with Freesat From Sky in two ways (1) If a household has a Freesat From Sky set up and also subscribes to BT Broadband, the viewing card can be enabled to watch the BT Sports package for no charge as part of the offer through BT's broadband service, or (2) if a customer with Freesat From Sky is willing to subscribe to the BT Sports package on their own, which they are free to do so. Literature from BT at present states the following...

On Sky Digital Satellite Platform - If you have a satellite receiver box and viewing card, you can easily take BT Sport from us. You don't need to be a BT customer - but if you have our broadband, it's free. And it's only available direct from BT. Order now for free HD for a year.

...there is nothing there that states that you have to be a current Sky subscriber to have BT Sports added.

My parents currently have a Sky setup with an Amstrad Sky+ HD receiver, Sky sub with no movies or HD levy (FTA HD channels like BBC1 & 4HD are fine, as is 5HD FTV) with my younger brother (who still lives at home with them part-time) paying the extra for ESPN. They also have BT Infinity on a Market 1 exchange (therefore no LLU operator meaning no big advantage having Sky for their "Connect" broadband which is limited to 40Gb per month) which just got upgraded to 80Mb down & 20Mbit up thanks to them only being about 50 metres from the cabinet. They were wondering what would be the case when ESPN in its current form closes down at the end of July, but with BT Sport being available to watch on Sky for no additional charge other than to commit to another 12 months on any current contract, it's a great deal for them and if you factor the standalone cost of BT Sports in with the premium that Infinity has over ADSL broadband being offered, it's a good package. While there's no such thing as a free lunch, you're pretty close to it in this case regarding BT Sports.

As for what will be done in the Republic - it was always going to be the case that BT would have been using the sports rights they've been gathering up to use in the UK as a part of an integral multi-play service offer in a similar fashion to that offered now by Sky and Virgin Media. With both eyes pretty much on a UK market share, getting the channel into the Irish market for BT is unlikely to be a priority. Since BT have no equivalent residential service in RoI of broadband or IPTV, such an offer won't be packaged in the same way so bar a deal somewhere I'd say that for Sky at least it'll be an additional stand-alone subscription; not sure how UPC will be approached, unlike Virgin or Sky they aren't a competitor to their broadband & phone services so something could be struck between the two parties.

McLoughlin · 31-05-2013 2:12am

I Realy hope that MLB, baseball tonight, PTI & ATH stay on air on this new channel even though PTI & ATH are edited I would really miss them e great to see Sunday NFL countdown return aswell.

icdg · 31-05-2013 11:27am

TAFKAlawhec wrote: »

As far as I understand it, BT Sport will be available to those with Freesat From Sky in two ways (1) If a household has a Freesat From Sky set up and also subscribes to BT Broadband, the viewing card can be enabled to watch the BT Sports package for no charge as part of the offer through BT's broadband service, or (2) if a customer with Freesat From Sky is willing to subscribe to the BT Sports package on their own, which they are free to do so. Literature from BT at present states the following...

...there is nothing there that states that you have to be a current Sky subscriber to have BT Sports added.

Its the exact same arrangement as Setanta, however you do have to have a Sky viewing card of some description to order it as they need the viewing card number. Not sure whether a previously cancelled viewing card can be used?

ABajaninCork · 31-05-2013 1:42pm

So can you have a 'live' Sky sub (and therefore a live viewing card), call BT direct and get the BT Sport added??

swoofer · 31-05-2013 2:05pm

yes

ABajaninCork · 31-05-2013 2:06pm

Cool!! I might give BT a call later and find out the price. I can pay in stg anyway...

TAFKAlawhec · 07-06-2013 2:34am

icdg wrote: »

Its the exact same arrangement as Setanta, however you do have to have a Sky viewing card of some description to order it as they need the viewing card number. Not sure whether a previously cancelled viewing card can be used?

The web sign up just asks for a viewing card number and the address associated with it - even non-subscribers like those with Freesat from Sky or expired cards will have a name and address attached to it for the likes of rejoining offers or to contact FSFS users as far as can be allowed within the UK Data Protection Act. For example when the old analogue service was shut down the customer database had to be eventually deleted for compliance, it couldn't be transferred or merged with the digital subscriber database. Since a previously cancelled (for Sky's packages anyway) Sky viewing card becomes a de-facto FSFS UK card without the card upgrade guarantee, I assume it can be used for the BT Sport service should one wish to do so.

lertsnim · 07-06-2013 10:00am

An old ex sub Sky viewing card did work for me for the short time I subscribed to setanta. Can't see BT Sport being different

R.F. · 19-06-2013 9:09am

Can Irish customers subscribe to this yet?

Does the free HD for a year apply over here too?

snaps · 19-06-2013 10:21am

I notice the BT sports channels have 2 sets of each proposed channel testing now. But all still carry the UK number. So we still dont have any idea whats happening with BT sports here in Ireland and how much money its all going to cost.

Rizzo the Rat · 21-06-2013 8:34am

I got a mail from BT Ireland yesterday after I enquired when I could order BT Sport. They are still in negotiations with distributors in the Republic of Ireland and should have an update in the coming fortnight.

Joseph Reilly · 21-06-2013 1:45pm

Only interested in watching the UFC so hope thy sort out the Irish deal soon

icdg · 21-06-2013 8:32pm

Rizzo the Rat wrote: »

I got a mail from BT Ireland yesterday after I enquired when I could order BT Sport. They are still in negotiations with distributors in the Republic of Ireland and should have an update in the coming fortnight.

What I don't get is why they are in negotiations with Sky at all, since they have decided to do their own subscriber management in the UK, surely they would do the same in Ireland as indeed Setanta do. Maybe they are waiting for a deal with UPC to announce all the ROI pricing arrangements together.

Incidently, it took ESPN right up until the day before the Premier League started in 2009 to do a deal with UPC, although they were available to subscribers (at that stage as a standalone premium channel) before the first Premier League match.

jack presley · 22-06-2013 9:30am

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/2.790/setanta-to-net-deal-with-bt-to-offer-more-live-premier-league-games-in-ireland-1.1438770

If it stays around the €17-20 a month, it's a goer.

Manc-Red · 22-06-2013 10:14am

jack presley wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/2.790/setanta-to-net-deal-with-bt-to-offer-more-live-premier-league-games-in-ireland-1.1438770

If it stays around the €17-20 a month, it's a goer.

Wow!, that will be a massive coup for Setanta - Once I have HD on satellite I'll pay up to 25 pm without an issue.

irishfeen · 22-06-2013 10:34am

This is massive for Setanta, they are now back in business with a bang, if it is true they will once again become a proper sports channel and with a HD channel would be well worth a subscription (€16.99 in today's Ireland might be still steep) .... Hopefully this will breed new life into the entire channel and lead to the creation of more jobs at the station....Well done Setanta!

irishfeen · 22-06-2013 10:44am

I wonder if this is true whether Setanta could actually launch their own Irish versions of BT Sports 1 and 2/ESPN channel and put Irish advertisements on them... if they could it would mean a massive increase of both advertisement and subscription revenue, that could mean Setanta would be in a position to fight sky for Irish sports rights across all sports.

Manc-Red · 22-06-2013 10:46am

irishfeen wrote: »

I wonder if this is true whether Setanta could actually launch their own Irish versions of BT Sports 1 and 2/ESPN channel and put Irish advertisements on them... if they could it would mean a massive increase of both advertisement and subscription revenue, that could mean Setanta would be in a position to fight sky for Irish sports rights.

I'd say that BT will have their own Irish versions on Sky/Cable for advertisements for our market.

Probably sold via Setanta.

Ah this deal has made my Saturday!

channelsurfer2 · 22-06-2013 10:52am

price will probably be either 24.99 or 29.99 a month to pay for those rights. Dont forget that when Setanta were at their height the price was 22.99 and these rights are better rights.

boris george · 22-06-2013 10:56am

I reckon they will keep it close to the €20 mark.
Incredible deal for Setanat to get.
Really puts them back on the map.

irishfeen · 22-06-2013 11:04am

Manc-Red wrote: »

I'd say that BT will have their own Irish versions on Sky/Cable for advertisements for our market.

Probably sold via Setanta.

Ah this deal has made my Saturday!

Possibly so, it will be interesting to see if we find out much about the details of the deal..... its an especially great deal for top 4 & ( 7th Liverpool

) supporters ... a subscription to Sky Sports 1 and Setanta/BT would cover almost all games shown on tv.

Manc-Red · 22-06-2013 11:10am

irishfeen wrote: »

Possibly so, it will be interesting to see if we find out much about the details of the deal..... its an especially great deal for top 4 & ( 7th Liverpool ) supporters ... a subscription to Sky Sports 1 and Setanta/BT would cover almost all games shown on tv.

It's a game-changing deal for Setanta - I'm absolutely thrilled with this.

The Sparrow · 22-06-2013 11:15am

I don't see how this is god news for subscribers who are going from having ESPN bundled as part of their sports package to now having to pay another expensive subscription for BT Sport/ Setanta.

I certainly won't be able to afford to pay 17 euro a month and I would imagine in this economic climate there will be a lot of people in the same position. Maybe 9.99 a month but no more than that.

Sports Extra (TNT/Premier)

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