Battle of the broadcasters – BT vs SKY July 1, 2010 • BT yesterday attacked its major TV rival, offering Sky Sports 1 for as little as £6.99 a month • Sky pre-empted the BT move by hiking its wholesale prices, hitting the telecom firm hard IAN Livingstone, BT chief executive, could be staring down a £100m-a-year black hole after announcing a ground-breaking football package. The [...]
Don’t make Rooney World Cup scapegoat, says Owen July 1, 2010 ENGLAND outcast Michael Owen has leapt to the defence of Wayne Rooney, insisting his Manchester United team-mate does not deserve to be singled out for criticism during the World Cup inquest. Rooney had his best season yet for United but looked a pale shadow of the rambunctious marksman who terrorised Premier League defences once he [...]
BT announces charges for Sky Sports July 1, 2010 BT has announced it will charge customers £16.99 a month for both Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2, or £11.99 for just one of the channels. The packages will be available on month-by-month contracts. BT and Sky signed a deal to allow BT Vision customers to watch the two sports channels, they revealed earlier [...]
BSkyB to increase sports prices June 30, 2010 British?Sky Broadcasting will today reveal a hike of between 11 and 36 per cent to the wholesale and retail cost of its sports channels, according to the?Financial Times. The higher charges on companies like BT and Virgin?Media mean BSkyB will be charging almost as much as when Ofcom, the regulator, intervened to force it to [...]
INSURERS STRAP IN FOR BLUNT’S MILE-HIGH RECORD-BREAKING GIG June 30, 2010 EVER wanted to watch James Blunt sing his heart out – live – at 42,000 feet? No, neither have we, but let’s not diminish Royal Sun Alliance’s (RSA) achievement in breaking the Guinness World Record for the world’s highest altitude live music show. The insurance group has kicked off its 300th anniversary celebrations with gusto [...]
BT footy prices to be revealed June 29, 2010 BT will tomorrow unveil the pricing for Premier League matches snapped up from Sky. Customers signed up to BT Vision will be able to watch Premier league games for a knock-down price after communications watchdog Ofcom ruled Sky must slash its wholesale prices for Sky Sports 1 and 2. Speculation has been building that BT [...]
BT strikes up a footy deal with BSkyB June 28, 2010 BT HAS finalised a deal with BSkyB to offer its subscribers top-flight football next season. The move, which means football fans can watch their teams on BT Vision for the first time, could rock Sky’s dominance of the pay TV market after decades controlling the lion’s share of subscribers. It follows a controversial Ofcom ruling [...]
BT to offer Sky Sports for new season June 28, 2010 BT will offer customers of its Internet television service access to rival BSkyB’s sports channels in time for the new Premier League season, it has said. BSkyB was ordered by telecoms regulator in March to cut the prices it charges competitors to air its sports channels, loosening BSkyB’s grip on premium programming and potentially sparking [...]
Cable is cool on NewsCorp BSkyB probe June 27, 2010 VINCE Cable has said there “would need to be a lot of evidence” for him to become involved in NewsCorp’s attempt to acquire BSkyB, in remarks that are sure to alienate anti-Murdoch Liberal Democrats. As business secretary, Cable could announce an investigation into the takeover on public interest grounds. He would then have the ultimate [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF June 24, 2010 Trio handed Team Sky rides CYCLING: British riders Steve Cummings and Geraint Thomas have been included in Team Sky’s nine-man squad for the Tour de France. Former world track champion Cummings makes his Tour debut after riding in last month’s Gira d’Italia, joining Thomas, who was a member of the victorious Olympic team pursuit quartet. [...]