The UK telecom giant BT Group has expanded its Premier League coverage after inking a deal with US-based internet media giants Amazon. The move makes BT the first UK pay-TV provider to offer the Amazon Prime Video streaming service via its set-top box.
The deal will give BT customers access to every televised game from top-flight English club football, with viewers being able to sign up for Amazon Prime as well as BT Sport starting from the 2019/20 Premier League season.
BT customers will also be able to access the live telecast of Premier League matches on Sky as a result of a content-sharing deal signed in December last year between BT and Sky.
The move comes after Amazon and BT Sport picked up the remaining two domestic rights packages to the Premier League, with the former making its first move into the market. In February, UK’s leading and rival broadcasters Sky and BT had snapped up top 5 main rights package for three seasons for a whopping ₹39,700 crores – i.e. ₹13,233 crores per season. BT had been awarded rights package A, while Sky had taken packages B, C, D, and E.
Amazon secured package F, giving Prime Video coverage of 20 games each season for three years from 2019-20, including the full complement of popular Boxing Day matches, along with one-midweek fixture programme.
Tony Singh, content and business development director for BT’s consumer division, said, “BT TV gives our customers the flexibility they want to watch all their favourite shows – and of course all the sport – in one place and on one bill. Our ambition is to offer an unrivalled choice of TV content for our customers.”
Following the deal, the BT customer’s will also be treated to tennis action from all the four grand slams and the ATP World Tour as Amazon Prime Video has exclusive digital rights for these tennis properties in UK and Ireland.
No comments:
Post a Comment