Bottom Line: Nice move needs an end result August 15, 2013 BACK of the net! Just a fortnight after the launch of BT’s new sports channels and it’s already scored millions more potential viewers. But hang on. BT may have clinched a three-year deal to share content with one of its main pay-TV rivals, but exactly what is the telecoms group getting out of it? [...]
BT teams up with Virgin Media in football battle against Sky August 15, 2013 BT and Virgin Media have announced a three year deal that will give Virgin Media TV customers access to BT Sport TV channels (release). The deal will come into effect from this weekend, and will give Virgin Media’s 3.8m XL customers access to BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN. The deal will boost [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 13 August 2013 August 12, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Subpoenas issued over metals probe The US commodities watchdog has subpoenaed companies including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Glencore as it ramps up its probe into the metals warehousing industry. The subpoenas come amid a barrage of criticism in the US of activities in commodity markets. The CFTC requested documents by the [...]
Best of the Brokers for 5 August 2013 August 4, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ROTORK Espirito Santo tells investors to “buy” shares in the manufacturing group and has a fair value of 3,050p ahead of first-half results tomorrow. The broker thinks Rotork’s shares have unfairly fallen behind the rest of the industrial sector in the year so [...]
Round one to Sky in battle with BT August 1, 2013 Communications regulator Ofcom dealt a blow to BT yesterday, ruling that it is not ready to force Sky to allow its sports channels to be shown on BT’s new TV service. The decision came on the day that BT launched its new TV sports channel, BT Sport, with presenter Jake Humphrey leading the way last night. [...]
BT splits retail division into consumer and business July 30, 2013 BT yesterday said it would split its retail division into two separate companies amid an increasingly bitter broadband war with rivals. BT Retail, which posted quarterly revenues of £1.8bn last week and represents roughly 40 per cent of the groups income, will split into two entities called BT Consumer and BT Business. John Petter will [...]
Pace rides US media boom July 30, 2013 PACE, the Yorkshire-based provider of set-top TV boxes, yesterday said its first-half profits had tripled thanks to huge sales growth in the North American market. A massive increase in demand in the US for media servers – devices that transmit TV and internet feeds to the screens of laptops, tablet and smartphones – means the [...]
BSkyB revenues rise ahead of BT battle July 26, 2013 BRITISH Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) today posted a seven per cent increase in full-year revenues to £7.2bn, as it gears up for a battle with an increasingly aggressive BT. The satellite broadcaster’s earnings rose eight per cent to £1.7bn and operating profit rose nine per cent to £1.3bn over the period. With mere weeks to go [...]
BT Sport signs up 500,000 in battle with Sky July 25, 2013 HALF a million homes are ready to receive BT’s new sports channels when they launch on 1 August, it was announced yesterday. The company says more than 500,000 households have already signed up to access the new service, which represents a billion pound punt by the telecoms giant and puts it in direct competition with [...]
Bottom Line: Beware the hype, this game’s only just kicked off July 25, 2013 IT HASN’T even started broadcasting yet, but BT Sport has already cost the group £40m – or one Luis Suarez – in pre-launch expenses. Yesterday outgoing chief executive Ian Livingston was keen to highlight the 500,000-odd households that have signed up for the new service, which goes live next Tuesday. But take a closer look at the [...]