BT’s strategy of investing heavily in the Premier League seems to be working. This means that the cost of television rights is likely to be forced up beyond the cost of inflation in the next auction due before the summer of 2015with a price war in prospect. The Premiership bubble has certainly not burst, despite forecasts to that effect over the years.
BT’s strategy of investing heavily in the Premier League seems to be working. This means that the cost of television rights is likely to be forced up beyond the cost of inflation in the next auction due before the summer of 2015with a price war in prospect. The Premiership bubble has certainly not burst, despite forecasts to that effect over the years.
The company has seen the best revenue growth for five years. Demand for the sports service boosted broadband and TV customer numbers and helped to mitigate the long-term loss to its fixed line business. Revenues rose 2 per cent to almost £4.6bn in the three months to December ahead of analysts’ expectations.
BT reported the highest quarterly increase in consumer revenue in a decade, although operating costs for its retail arm rose 8 per cent due to the investment of £140m in BT Sport. The number of homes directly signed up to its BT Sport channels rose to almost 2.5 million from 2 million in the previous quarter. There is also a deal to show its channels its channels over Virgin’s pay-tv platform. There was an audience of more than 1.5 million for the Boxing Day match between Manchester City and Liverpool.