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Shares in Premiere fell to an all-time low last week after Deutsche Telekom announced it would not use its rights for showing live football via the internet to provide viewing for Premier's pay-TV subscribers. The decision by Telekom ends a dispute with the Bundesliga over the transmission of its games and puts Premiere in a difficult position. The pay-TV operator built its business on live football and its shares collapsed in December when it lost the rights for the next three seasons. Last May Premiere announced a deal to produce the internet coverage for Telekom, with the possibility of also screening the games on Premiere. But the Bundesliga intervened to protect Premiere's rival Arena, which had already won the TV rights. In a further blow, the Bundesliga awarded rights to air the 612 first and second division games in sports bars to Arena, a consortium of cable TV groups, robbing Premiere of another franchise it was confident of keeping. Telekom said the Bundesliga has agreed to rename the first and second divisions the 'T-Com Leagues' after its ailing fixed-line division. The Bundsliga awarded Telekom, Europe's largest telecom company, the rights for soccer via TVs in mobile phones, for an estimated €40m ($51m) a year, while cutting the price for the package.
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