Telecoms and broadband giant BT is reportedly in “advanced talks” to sell its 50% stake in UK TV broadcaster TNT Sports, which was formerly known as BTSport before the operator retreated from pay TV. Existing partner Warner Bros Discovery would pick up the stake and use it to help support their plans for a new streaming service (yes.. another one, sigh).
Just to recap. BT officially rebranded BT Sport to TNT Sports throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland back in mid-2023. The move followed a 2022 deal between BT and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), which resulted in a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) company between BT Sport and Eurosport UK.
However, the above agreement also gave WBD an option to buy out BT before the end of next year, which the FT (paywall) reports is something that is now being pursued. The move would mark BT’s final exit from premium TV sports broadcasting, which wasn’t exactly a slam dunk for the operator (cash drain) and distracted them from their primary focus on broadband and digital networks.
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Meanwhile, WBD itself is focused on preparing the way for their new streaming service – HBO Max – to launch in the UK during early 2026, which is expected to feature premium sports TV content and the usual foray of entertainment (related TV shows and movies etc.). But this will of course just add to the growing problem of content fragmentation, as yet another streaming service arrives to compete in an already crowded and increasingly expensive environment for consumers.
According to the newspaper, a deal could be announced as soon as this week, which would make sense as we’re expecting BT the release their next set of biannual financial results later in the week.
HBO Max is an existing streaming service (Max) that a few years ago was branded as HBO Max, so this would just be a retrun to the former branding with a broader range of offerings.
Hbo Max (or Max) is not available natively in the UK due to Sky’s broadcast deal with them.
‘Meanwhile, WBD itself is focused on preparing the way for their new streaming service – HBO Max – to launch in the UK during early 2026…’
After it launches, I think (HBO) Max might end up replacing Discovery+ in the UK as WBD’s streaming platform.
@John Smith: Correct. However, it is still an existing service, so the takeover is a consolidation of the market.
@ binary: That was apparently the plan, but it has since been dropped partially due to contractural arrangments.
@Smith: Correct. However, it is still an existing service, so the takeover is a consolidation of the market.
@binary: An article from 2024 states that WBD is withdrawing Discovery from Europe in favour as it rolls out HBO Max across the region.
… so in effect it would seem to be a consolidation of the streaming market.
No surprise there, the whole Pay TV model of the last 35 years is on its last legs as streaming services take over. BT will be well shot.
The tradional Pay TV model is declining but some of it is being replaced by bundles delivered over IP. Sky will have HBO Max from 2026 and look over the pond where Verizon offers bundles with the Disney Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+) and a separate bundle with Netflix and Max (both often ad-supported tiers). And bear in mind that a lot of people still want aggregators like Virgin Media where they can get most of what they want from a single box and bill.
Smart move. BT Sport was a defensive measure against pressure from Sky moving into telecoms. Nowadays pay tv is under pressure itself.
agreed and it was the free BT sport and loss of sky sports revenue that forced Sky into consuming FTTC when there entire business model was WLR
Sky consumed MPF not WLR, Fastman. The sticking point with FTTC was how much control they wanted over it to get it as close as possible to MPF. Once there was a VULA offering they liked they started pursuing it.
They had some work to do on their side as well but nothing to do with sport. Sky had DTH satellite to get their content where it needed to be. Where people couldn’t get dishes Sky hadn’t ever sold to them anyway, whatever BT Sport took away they dealt with on the content side, was a while before Sky Stream or Sky Glass started and been able to get them over any Internet service.
The next will be the revaluation of Premier League rights price.
I’m interested to know what the continuing business relationship between BT and WBD will be like, in terms of marketing and selling/packaging TNT Sports and Discovery+/HBO Max on to BT/EE customers. I’d think this relationship is and will continue to be beneficial to both parties.
Don’t forget BT/EE are now selling Sky Stream through their own retail stores here:- https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/10/ee-extends-sky-partnership-and-brings-sky-stream-to-uk-customers.html
If they can sell Sky Stream alongside their broadband & mobile phone packages you have to question whether they want to be in the Pay TV game at all given Alison Kirkby’s tilt towards their core services.
Good move by BT. Concentrate on it’s network. Good to see sky crumbling too. TNT sports costs a fortune for cycling for a product you can get elsewhere for free with a VPN.
I interviewed for 2 network jobs at BT but no dice so I’m headed in a different direction.