General : ESPN, BT, Euro, Premier and Sky Sports news

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by johnathome

Do you have a link to it? I couldn't find an app.

You do need to have subscribed to there internet streaming service for this to work.

Login to premier sports tv player via your phone and go to the video screen and it will point you to it or look for the sol HLS player in the play store

---------- Post added at 21:51 ---------- Previous post was at 21:48 ----------

Originally Posted by wrlfc

A big thank you to VM for getting Premier sports.
I have just watched one of the greatest games of rugby league I have seen for years, absolutely brutal at times.Also the commentary by Aussie Andrew Voss was first class,much better than them Sky muppets.
Very well done to all concerned.
P.S. picture quality very good as well.

It was indeed one of those games that will be remembered for a while.

[Doug P]

Yes RL coverage pretty good but no way am paying eight pounds a month for the channel.

[denphone]

Strong performance from BT Sport means it's game on for Sky.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...cess-rival-sky

[Dave42]

Originally Posted by denphone

Strong performance from BT Sport means it's game on for Sky.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...cess-rival-sky

means sky will up bids when right come up again to make sure they beat bt and prices will keep going up

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Dave42

means sky will up bids when right come up again to make sure they beat bt and prices will keep going up

Yes that is the likely scenario l am afraid.

[Chad]

Here is an interview with Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive of BT.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24754202

[TonyM19]

Originally Posted by Doug P

Yes RL coverage pretty good but no way am paying eight pounds a month for the channel.

Seems fair enough for 5/6 games of NRL per weekend during the season + State of origin. I suppose it depends on how much you like RL

[Doug P]

Originally Posted by TonyM19

Seems fair enough for 5/6 games of NRL per weekend during the season + State of origin. I suppose it depends on how much you like RL

I love RL but have Sky Sports for multi-sports including SL and the Challenge Cup is on there and the BBC. Not dissing State of Origin or NRL but is far too much per month for extra games of one sport for me.

Also the coverage of Scotland v Italy in Workington yesterday bordered on woeful imo.

[TonyM19]

Originally Posted by Doug P

I love RL but have Sky Sports for multi-sports including SL and the Challenge Cup is on there and the BBC. Not dissing State of Origin or NRL but is far too much per month for extra games of one sport for me.

Also the coverage of Scotland v Italy in Workington yesterday bordered on woeful imo.

You pays your money and takes your choice .

I'm just glad that I've got the option.

By the end of this world cup the channel will have shown 268 rugby league matches this season. Sky will have given us 71 and BBC 12 in comparison.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Dave42

means sky will up bids when right come up again to make sure they beat bt and prices will keep going up

Except that Sky are not allowed to have all the games, are they? A proportion of them will always be screened by a different operator, assuming that one exists who wishes to put in a bid. At least, that's my understanding.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Except that Sky are not allowed to have all the games, are they? A proportion of them will always be screened by a different operator, assuming that one exists who wishes to put in a bid. At least, that's my understanding.

And it's correct. The issue is that BT want to out bid Sky and own a larger rights portfolio. That was the case this time and their stated aim for next time around as well. What happened this time was that BT did actually out bid Sky with a record bid. The Premier League then went back to Sky and offered them the chance to top the BT bid, which they did.

So the result of all that is that Sky ended up with what they wanted, whilst BT ended up with something akin to what ESPN had been showing for the last couple of years ie. the status quo was largely maintained, except the cost had been largely inflated. And that cost is inevitably passed on to the consumer. Sky Sports has increased, and we've yet to see the impact of Virgin's deal with BT but I'm sure they'll announce an annual price increase soon as it's almost twelve months since the last one. The cost of BT Sport as a subscription option is higher than ESPN was.

Dave42 is right in my opinion. BT clearly want to get more from the next rights auction, whilst Sky have shown no indication that they're prepared to give up their positron as top dog. So, unless in the meantime something happens which forces a shake up of the current system and introduces real competition for the benefit of the consumer, I expect another record breaking rights auction next time round followed by more price rises.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by andy_m

And it's correct. The issue is that BT want to out bid Sky and own a larger rights portfolio. That was the case this time and their stated aim for next time around as well. What happened this time was that BT did actually out bid Sky with a record bid. The Premier League then went back to Sky and offered them the chance to top the BT bid, which they did.

So the result of all that is that Sky ended up with what they wanted, whilst BT ended up with something akin to what ESPN had been showing for the last couple of years ie. the status quo was largely maintained, except the cost had been largely inflated. And that cost is inevitably passed on to the consumer. Sky Sports has increased, and we've yet to see the impact of Virgin's deal with BT but I'm sure they'll announce an annual price increase soon as it's almost twelve months since the last one. The cost of BT Sport as a subscription option is higher than ESPN was.

Dave42 is right in my opinion. BT clearly want to get more from the next rights auction, whilst Sky have shown no indication that they're prepared to give up their positron as top dog. So, unless in the meantime something happens which forces a shake up of the current system and introduces real competition for the benefit of the consumer, I expect another record breaking rights auction next time round followed by more price rises.

As usual you chaps have summed up the likely future scenario perfectly.

[johnathome]

You wonder if the PL would have offered BT a second stab if Sky had outbid them?

The consumer has only so much spare cash Sky have to be careful they don't price them too high and people drop them.
In fact my local club has started to subscribe again after about 5 years without it, they are now paying less (500) than they were before (800), it got dropped because Sky changed the way they work retail out and wanted to put it up to £1200 a month!

[Doug P]

Originally Posted by TonyM19

You pays your money and takes your choice .

I'm just glad that I've got the option.

By the end of this world cup the channel will have shown 268 rugby league matches this season. Sky will have given us 71 and BBC 12 in comparison.

Sky and the Beeb games much higher quality both on and off the pitch imo. PS coverage now starting to grate....

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by johnathome

You wonder if the PL would have offered BT a second stab if Sky had outbid them?

The consumer has only so much spare cash Sky have to be careful they don't price them too high and people drop them.
In fact my local club has started to subscribe again after about 5 years without it, they are now paying less (500) than they were before (800), it got dropped because Sky changed the way they work retail out and wanted to put it up to £1200 a month!

I suspect that they knew what they were getting with Sky and were keen to protect their brand. Next time might be different depending upon how they perceive BT's handling of the next two and a half years.