Article Taxonomy: Television and Broadcasting

Yahoo! has concluded a multi-million pound deal to screen highlights of Premier League matches online from 2010 to 2013.  The rights were formerly held by Virgin and Yahoo won the rights in an auction.   Virgin had won the online rights from Sky and before that they were held by Vodafone.

Overseas television deals have increased from 18 per cent of Premier League broadcasting income to 25 per cent in the last financial year and are expected to reach 30 per cent by 2014.  The money is generated through 84 separate contracts covering 211 countries.   This increased emphasis on the overseas market was a sensible move given that the home market was near saturation and the product had clear international appeal.

ESPN, the Disney-owned sports television channel, has acquired the rights to deliver Premier League football highlights on UK mobile phones until 2013.    They replace BSkyB which has held the rights since 2007-08.   Since it acquired the Setanta live football rights last summer, ESPN has emerged as a competitor to BSkyB.   It is believed to be determined to expand its market share.  It is not known how much ESPN paid for the rights or how many rival bidders there were.   However, it is believed that the amount paid was somwhere ‘in the

The Premier League is preparing to go to court over Ofcom’s ruling that BSkyB must offer rivals access to its premium channels.   The league has instructed law firm DLA Piper to comb through Ofcom’s 650-page document with a view to taking legal action.   Premiership sources have indicated that it is highly likely that legal action will be taken because of the implications for its business model.  The threat of legal action will come as no surprise to Ofcom which has already prepared for a court test of its actions.

BT Vision and Virgin Media have expressed disappointment at Ofcom’s ruling on how BSkyB should sell Premiership football to rival platforms on a wholesale basis.   They said that the ruling had not gone far enough to loosen BSkyB’s powerful hold on sport rights.   It is perhaps significant that BSkyB shares closed up 3.4 per cent at 602p following the ruling.

The imminent ruling from Ofcom that will allow  other platforms access to BSkyB’s football output at competitive prices has rung alarm bells in the Premiership.   They are concerned that BSkyB would bid less aggressively for football rights, leading to a fall in their revenue.   They took 130 pages in a submission to Ofcom to make that point.  But other commentators think these fears are overstated.

The Premier League has more than doubled the revenue it will receive from overseas broadcasting rights in the 2010-13 period.  It will raise about £1.4bn, more than double the previous level of £625m.   With deals in Albania and Russia still to be concluded, the Premiership expects to raise each club’s average annual income from overseas rights from £10m to about £23m per season from this summer.   This success reflects the growing

The completion of a two-year Ofcom review of the pay television market is imminent.   Ofcom is expected to order British Sky Broadcasting to sell premium content, especially Premier League football, to rivals at wholesale prices set by the regulator.   These are likely to be 20 per cent to 35 per cent below current levels.   The beneficiaries would include providers such as BT Vision, Virgin Media and Top-Up TV.