Sky and BT Reach Deal for Access to Wholesale Sport TV Content

Fears that customers of BT TV’s Sport content might lose access to the Sky Sports channels have proven to be unfounded after a new agreement was reached with Sky, which will give BT access to two of the broadcasters new sports TV channels (‘Sky Sports Main Event‘ and ‘Sky Sports Extra‘).

Disputes over wholesale access to premium TV content are not a new phenomenon (do doo di do do) in this market, with BT and Sky being involved in plenty of recent spats. As a result BT TV customers are unable to access Sky’s entertainment channels (e.g. Sky One, Sky Atlantic) and they can only offer Standard Definition (SD) versions of Sky Movies, as well as two of the Sky Sports channels.

In response BT TV doesn’t wholesale their premium AMC or BT Sport TV channels to Sky, although thanks to an Ofcom ruling Sky TV customers can still access BT Sport by subscribing to it directly via BT (this costs from £22.99 per month, rising to £27.99 per month for HD quality + £20 one-off activation).

Earlier this week Sky threw another potential spanner into the works by changing how they deliver premium sports TV content and launching ten Sky Sports channels (from 18th July 2017), which each focus on different sports and can be subscribed to on an individual or bundled basis. Sky’s customers have long requested this kind of flexibility, although it adds complexity to the wholesale side.

The New Sky Sports Channel Line-up

401 – Sky Sports Main Event
Live Premier League football plus international qualifiers and the biggest games from EFL and La Liga, F1, Ryder Cup and Major golf, England Test cricket, international Rugby Union, World Darts Championship and more

402 – Sky Sports Premier League
126 live Premier League matches per season. Brand new shows including a new nightly debate show. Dedicated On Demand sections for every Premier League club, including match highlights, interviews and documentaries.

403 – Sky Sports Football
127 Sky Bet EFL matches per season, EFL Cup including semi-finals and final, SPFL Premiership & Scottish Cup, 300 La Liga matches a season, MLS, Eredivisie and more.

404 – Sky Sports Cricket
Exclusive live coverage of every home England Test, ODI and T20 match. The widest range of domestic cricket including County Championship, T20 Blast and more. The ICC Champions Trophy, Cricket World Cup, World Twenty20 and Women’s World Cup live.

405 – Sky Sports Golf
The only place to see every day of The Open Championship and US Open live. Home of the European Tour, PGA Tour, Ladies European and Ladies PGA Tour. This year’s Solheim Cup and The 2018 Ryder Cup.

406 – Sky Sports F1
Exclusive coverage of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, GP3, Porsche Supercup and Goodwood Festival of Speed.

407 – Sky Sports Action
408 – Sky Sports Arena
The home of rugby union (England, European and domestic rugby union, the British & Irish Lions), rugby Super League, ATP tennis, PDC darts (including World Championship), world championship boxing, NFL, WWE, GAA, netball and more

409 – Sky Sports News
Regular news and feature programmes where studio guests provide an in depth look at upcoming sporting events, combined with the latest stories as they happen from around the world. Cameras and reporters stretch across the country, and the globe, taking viewers to the heart of sport.

121 – Sky Sports Mix
Regular live football including La Liga, MLS and international qualifiers as well as a select number of Premier League and EFL matches. As well as support programming that will appeal to kids and family audiences, viewers can also enjoy live golf from Europe and the US, international cricket and much more.

At present it’s possible to have all of the Sky Sports channels on Sky for the same £26 per month price as previously charged, but if for example you only wanted Sky Sports F1 then you could now take that individually for £18 per month (adding two channels would cost £22 and three for £26). We still see this as being too expensive but obviously there are plenty of people willing to pay it.

According to SEENIT, BT and Sky have now reached an agreement that will enable BT Sport to offer the new Sky Sports Main Event channel and its sister Sky Sports Extra (Extra will show Premier League matches when they clash with other live content being shown on Sky Sports Main Event). However it doesn’t sound as if BT Sport customers will get the same individual channel choice as Sky TV viewers.

Meanwhile Virgin Media has confirmed that they too also have no plans to offer the new Sky Sports channels on an individual basis, although they will continue to offer them all as part of a more expensive full bundle. It’s too early to know whether the lack of individual channel flexibility on BT and Virgin Media will impact their subscriber figures.