BT Sport

BT Sport
BT Sport logo
Launched 1 August 2013
Owned by BT Group
Picture format 576i (16:9 SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
2160p (UHDTV)
Audience share 0.04% (1)
0.07% (2)
0.01% (3)
0.01% (ESPN)
~0.00% (Showcase) (June 2016 (2016-06), BARB)
Slogan You have to see it to believe it
Country United Kingdom
Broadcast area United Kingdom
Ireland
Headquarters Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Sister channel(s) BT Sport ESPN
AMC from BT (UK only)
Website sport.bt.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview Channel 59 (Showcase)
Satellite
Sky Channel 413 (1)
Channel 414 (2)
Channel 417 (3)
Channel 426 (ESPN)
Channel 427 (1 HD)
Channel 433 (2 HD)
Channel 457 (3 HD)
Channel 458 (ESPN HD)
Cable
Virgin Media Channel 527 (1 HD)
Channel 528 (2 HD)
Channel 529 (3 HD)
Channel 530 (ESPN HD)
Channel 531 (1)
Channel 532 (2)
Channel 533 (3)
Channel 534 (ESPN)
Channel 548 (Showcase)
IPTV
BT Channel 408 (1)
Channel 409 (2)
Channel 410 (3)
Channel 411 (ESPN)
Channel 430 (1 HD)
Channel 431 (2 HD)
Channel 432 (3 HD)
Channel 433 (4K UHD)
Channel 434 (ESPN HD)
Channel 450–455 (Extra 1–6)
Channel 465–470 (Extra 1–6 HD)
Plusnet Channel 408 (1)
Channel 409 (2)
Channel 410 (3)
Channel 411 (ESPN)
Channel 430 (1 HD)
Channel 431 (2 HD)
Channel 432 (3 HD)
Channel 434 (ESPN HD)
Channel 450–455 (Extra 1–6)
TalkTalk TV Channel 408 (1)
Channel 409 (2)
Channel 410 (3)
Channel 411 (ESPN)
Streaming media
BT Sport Player Watch live (1, UK only)
Watch live (2, UK only)
Virgin TV Anywhere

Watch live (1, UK only)
Watch live (2, UK only)
Watch live (3, UK only)

Watch live (ESPN, UK only)

BT Sport is a group of sports television channels provided by BT Consumer; a division of BT Group in the United Kingdom and Ireland that was launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Broadcast Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.[1][2] BT Sport is available on the BT TV, Sky and Virgin Media television platforms in the UK.

BT Sport holds exclusive live UK TV rights to 42 Barclays Premier League matches per season as well as exclusive rights to the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, National League, Serie A, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Primeira Liga, the FA Community Shield, the FA Trophy, MotoGP and the Aviva Premiership. BT Sport also holds shared rights to the FA Cup with the BBC, the Scottish Professional Football League with Sky Sports and BBC Alba, and the Rugby Champions and Challenge Cups with Sky Sports.

Availability

On 2 May 2013, BT Sport 1 and 2 were added to the BT TV EPG, followed by Sky the next day along with an on-screen message that the channel was coming soon. On Sky, the channels replaced BT's placeholders, Sailing 1 and 2.[3] The BT-owned terrestrial feeds of Sky Sports 1 and 2, which were also used for Top Up TV, were dropped on 1 July in favour of BT Sport 1 and 2.[4] The terrestrial feeds were only available to BT TV subscribers in non-BT Infinity enabled areas. These were removed from the platform in 2015. BT signed a wholesale deal with Virgin Media on 15 August 2013 bringing the channels free of charge to customers in the TV XL package.[5] In Ireland BT Sport is bundled with eir Sports subscriptions.[6][7] The deal means BT Sport 1, 2, 3 & ESPN is part of the eir Sports Pack in Ireland, along with eir Sports 1 and eir Sports 2.

An interactive service, BT Sport Extra, launched in September 2014, broadcasting additional content at selected times.[8] One video stream was available at launch which expanded to seven in August 2015. BT Sport Extra can be accessed directly from the EPG on BT TV and from the red button on Sky and Virgin Media.

On 1 August 2015, BT launched three new channels - BT Sport Europe, a dedicated channel for its coverage of European football and rugby union including the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and rugby challenge and champions cups. BT Sport Showcase, a free-to-air channel which will show a number of sporting events unencrypted via Freeview, and BT Sport Ultra HD, the UK's first 4K television channel which will broadcast a number of events in ultra-high-definition exclusively on BT TV.[9] On 4 August 2016, BT Sport Europe was renamed BT Sport 3 and BT Sport Ultra HD to BT Sport 4K UHD.

BT Sport 1 is currently offered for free for BT's broadband subscribers as 'BT Sport Lite', who may elect to view the channels via Sky, whether or not they have a Sky subscription, by having their viewing card activated. Customers who wish to view the remaining channels can subscribe to the 'BT Sport Pack' for £6 per month.[10] BT also provide broadband subscribers access to the channels via the BT Sport online player and mobile app.[11] Sky customers in the UK who subscribe to the 'BT Sport Pack' also have exclusive access to the AMC from BT channel.

Programming

Plans for the channels launch came about when it was announced in June 2012 that the broadcast rights to the Premier League from the 2013–14 to 2015–16 season were awarded to BT and BSkyB, outbidding existing broadcaster ESPN for the rights.[12] BT showed 38 live matches from the Premier League each season, including 18 first pick matches, from the 2013/14 season to the end of the 2015/16 season.

In October 2012 BT announced it had also agreed deals to air Serie A, Ligue 1, Brasileirão and Major League Soccer, all of which were previously broadcast on ESPN,[13] as well as Premiership Rugby.[14]

In January 2013 BT announced they will also broadcast Women's Tennis Association matches from 21 tournaments.[15]

On 25 February 2013, BT announced that it had acquired ESPN's UK channels and their sports broadcasting rights, including rights to the FA Cup, UEFA Europa League, Scottish Premier League, Bundesliga and NASCAR.[16] This led to the shutting down of ESPN Classic and ESPN America in favour of the BT Sport channels.

On 7 May 2013, BT Sport acquired the rights to air Ultimate Fighting Championship events and taped programming in the UK and Ireland for three years, from 1 August.[17] Two days later it was announced that BT Sport had acquired an exclusive five-year deal to broadcast MotoGP races from the 2014 season, including free practices and qualifying as well as full coverage of Moto2 and Moto3.[18] BT Sport also broadcasts the FA WSL, A-League and programming from Red Bull Media House.[4][19]

On 9 May 2013, BT announced that they had acquired the exclusive UK TV rights to MotoGP along with the Moto2 and Moto3 championships.

Later in May BT Sport acquired rights to the Football Conference for two years with 25-30 live games a season, including the end-of-season play offs.

On 9 November 2013, BT announced a £897 million deal with UEFA to broadcast the Champions League and Europa League exclusively on BT Sport from the 2015–16 season for three years. The deal will end two decades of the competition being broadcast free-to-air on ITV, although BT stated that the finals of both competitions and at least one match per season involving each participating British team would still be broadcast free-to-air.[20][21]

In January 2014, it was reported that BT Sport had acquired the rights to broadcast the World Rally Championship for the 2014 season.[22][23]

On 10 February 2015, BT Sport announced they had won the rights for 42 live Premier League games for 2016/17 - 2018/19 (packages B and F)[24][25][26]

Football coverage

BT Sport currently has the rights to show 42 Premier League matches live from the 2016/17 - 2018/19 seasons. Their packages (B and F) give BT the rights for 12 1st pick matches. The coverage for the current rights period see BT Sport showing 28 live matches on Saturday evenings at 5:30pm. A further 6 live matches will be broadcast in midweek rounds and another 8 matches are spread across Saturday 12:30pm, Saturday 5:30pm or Sunday 12:00pm. The rights to the Premier League are shared with Sky Sports who have 126 live matches and BBC Sport who have highlights on Match of the Day. Jake Humphrey is the main presenter of Football on BT Sport, hosting action from Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Europa League. The main studio pundits and co-commentators include Owen Hargreaves, Michael Owen, Steve McManaman, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Robbie Savage, Glenn Hoddle and Ian Wright, while Darren Fletcher and Ian Darke are the main match commentators. Des Kelly is the main touchline reporter.

As of a result of the new kick-off time for live Premier League fixtures on BT Sport, the channel revealed a new schedule on Saturdays starting with a live game from either the National League or SPFL kicking off at 12:15pm. This will be followed by BT Sport Score, hosted by Mark Pougatch and with expert analysis from pundits including Jermaine Jenas, Harry Kewell, Harry Redknapp, Robbie Savage, David James and Howard Webb, which will keep viewers updated with the latest scores across the UK including the Women's Super League before moving on to Premier League Tonight starting at 5pm, which will broadcast a live premier league game kicking off at 17:30pm. As a result of this Aviva Premiership matches will be moved to BT Sport 2.[27]

BT Sport has exclusive live coverage of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League from 2015 until 2018. Gary Lineker fronts all of the Champions League action with Jake Humphrey, Lynsey Hipgrave, Matt Smith and Paul Dempsey also presenting coverage. James Richardson hosts the Goals Show every Champions League matchday which keeps viewers up to date of all the scores and they can watch every goal go in live. Pundits include Julien Laurens, Raphael Honigstein, James Horncastle and Andy Brassell. Howard Webb is also on hand to offer expert opinion on any controversial refereeing decisions.

In May 2016, BT announced that they will stream the 2016 UEFA Champions League and 2016 UEFA Europa League finals live on YouTube for free, as well as showing them on BT Sport Europe and BT Sport Showcase.[28]

BT have rights to the Scottish Premiership with 30 live games per season. Darrell Currie presents coverage of Scottish football with Derek Rae and Chris Sutton as commentators. Stephen Craigan and Mark Guidi complete the Scottish football coverage line-up. The rights is shared with Sky Sports and BBC Alba, who also have 30 and 3 live games per season respectively with highlights of the SPFL on BBC Scotland.

BT Sport also have exclusive rights to show the National League with Matt Smith hosting 30 live games per season along with coverage of the Play-Offs and the Play-Off Final live from Wembley.

BT Sport also shows live matches from Italy's Serie A, Germany's Bundesliga, France's Ligue One and Australia's A-League. Paul Dempsey and James Richardson are hosts of foreign football coverage on BT Sport. Pundits have included Julien Laurens, Raphael Honigstein, James Horncastle and Andy Brassell.

Rugby union coverage

BT Sport has exclusive live rights to the Aviva Premiership and Anglo-Welsh Cup and shares live coverage of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup with Sky Sports. The original Aviva Premiership coverage deal ran until the 2016/17 season and allowed BT Sport to broadcast up to 69 live games per season. The Aviva Premiership's viewing figures rose by 40% in TV audiences in its first season with BT Sport.[29] A new deal was signed in March 2015 to cover the Aviva Premiership until 2021 covering up to 80 matches a season.[30] Craig Doyle is the main presenter of the coverage whilst Lawrence Dallaglio acts as the main match analyst. Doyle and Dallaglio present a review of the weekend's action after the last live game of the weekend every Sunday afternoon. Sarra Elgan and Martin Bayfield also present live action whilst further reporting comes from Tim Cocker and Chris Hollins. Austin Healey, Brian O'Driscoll, Ben Kay and Ugo Monye provide further punditry and co-commentary. BT Sport usually have one forward and one back acting as co-commentators on every match so one of Dallagio or Kay, along with one of Healey, Monye or O'Driscoll join Nick Mullins or Alastair Eykyn in the commentary box. Occasionally guest pundits and guest co-commentators are used.

Cricket Coverage

In August 2015, it was announced that BT Sport had claimed the rights for Australia's home matches for five years starting in the Australian 2016-17 season. This means that BT will show the Ashes Clash between England and Australia in 2017-18 with the deal also including Big Bash League fixtures as well as the Women's Ashes and Women's T20 Big Bash League.[31]

Tennis coverage

In January 2013, BT Sport signed a deal with the WTA to show 21 live tournaments from the women's tennis tour. The coverage can consist of up to 800 live hours of coverage every year until 2016, each season ending with the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships. Coverage is presented by Lynsey Hipgrave with Martina Navratilova. Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, Anne Keothavong, David Mercer, Nick Mullins, Sam Smith and Alastair Eykyn are the commentators.

Motorsport coverage

BT Sport has rights to numerous British, European, American and global motorsport series both in live and highlights form.

MotoGP is BT Sport's flagship motorsports event and in addition to the main MotoGP event, BT shows the Moto2, Moto3, Red Bull Rookies and CEV Repsol championships. Suzi Perry, Craig Doyle and Gavin Emmett hosts alongside pundits Jeremy McWilliams, Colin Edwards, James Toseland and Neil Hodgson. Commentary is provided by Keith Huewen and Julian Ryder with additional commentary from Colin Edwards, James Toseland, Gavin Emmett and Neil Hodgson during practice and qualifying. BT also produces a highlights programme which is broadcast on ITV4 on the Monday evening following the race. Gavin Emmett, former World Feed commentator, would take up the role of BT Sport's MotoGP reporter. Iwan Thomas hosted an analysis show called Chequered Flag aired after the MotoGP race has finished.

IndyCar Series coverage on BT Sport is just world feed pictures and commentary usually from either ABC or NBC Sports. For ABC as of 2014, Allen Bestwick is the lap-by-lap commentator while former IndyCar drivers Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever serve as colour commentators. Then for NBC Sports Leigh Diffey is the lap-by-lap commentator with the other commentators being Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy

Other live series include the World Rally Championship, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and V8 Supercars where the world feed is taken directly from the host broadcaster. For World Series by Renault, BT Sport take world feed images but produce their own commentary, usually from Ben Evans and a journalist or racing driver. Highlights packages are also shown on BT Sport for series such as BRDC Formula 4 Championship, FIA European Formula Three Championship and the British Formula Three Championship.

American sports

BT Sport shows extensive coverage of American sports, including Major League Baseball, NBA, American College Sports, Major League Lacrosse, and X Games. Also ESPN-produced American sports magazines, such as College Gameday and Baseball Tonight, are shown, often live. The majority of American sports coverage is broadcast on BT Sport ESPN apart from the NBA which is usually shown on one of the main channels.

Magazine shows

Classic sport

BT Sport's weekday daytime schedules often include sporting action from yesteryear. Football features heavily and includes league matches from the 1970s and 1980s from both the ITV Sport and the BBC's Match of the Day archives. Also featured are FA Cup finals from the 1970s to the present day and UEFA Champions League matches. Other sporting action includes boxing matches from the ESPN archives as well as old MotoGP races.

Sports rights

Here is a list of the major sports rights BT Sport has announced to date:

Football
League Name Nationality Broadcast Details
Premier League England Wales 42 live matches per season until the end of the 2018/19 season.[33]
FA Cup England Wales 25 live games per season until 2017/18 - increasing to 30 from 2018/19 to 2020/21.[34][35]
National League England Wales 30 live matches per season until 2018 - made up of 25 regular season matches + all five matches from the play-offs, including the final.[36]
FA Trophy England Wales final live from 2014–15 season
FA Vase England Wales final highlights for 2014–15 season, final live from 2015-16 season
FA Community Shield England Wales Exclusively live until 2018.
England national under-21 football team England Live coverage of home internationals that also includes one live match per season from England U17 and U19 teams. Rights run from 2014-2018.[37]
Scottish Professional Football League Scotland England 30 live games and up to six Play-Off matches live per season until 2020.[38]
Scottish League Cup Scotland England Exclusive live rights from 2016–17 season
Serie A Italy Up to 380 live games per season until 2017/18
Bundesliga Germany 115 live games per season until 2021.
2. Bundesliga Germany
German Cup Germany
German Super Cup Germany
Ligue 1 France Up to 380 live games per season
Coupe de la Ligue France
Toulon Tournament France
Brasileirão Brazil Up to 100 live games per season
Paulistão Brazil Up to 100 live games per season
UEFA Champions League Europe Exclusive live rights until 2018.
UEFA Europa League Europe Exclusive live rights until 2018.
UEFA Youth League Europe
UEFA Super Cup Europe Exclusive live rights from 2015–16 season.
A-League Australia New Zealand Up to five live matches per round.
FFA Cup Australia New Zealand
FA WSL England 12 live games per season.
Premier Futsal India Selected live games
Rugby union
League Name Nationality Broadcast Details
Aviva Premiership England Up to 80 live games per season until 2021.
Premiership Rugby Sevens Series EnglandWales
Anglo-Welsh Cup EnglandWales live in 2016-17
European Rugby Champions Cup Europe Joint deal with Sky Sports starting 2014–15
European Rugby Challenge Cup Europe Joint deal with Sky Sports starting 2014–15
Italy Autumn internationals Italy Live in 2016
Motorsport
Series Name Nationality Broadcast Details
MotoGP United Nations Live until 2018; Highlights on ITV
World Rally Championship United Nations Live in 2016; Highlights & Live coverage or Rally GB on Channel 5.
IndyCar Series United States Live in 2016
V8 Supercars Australia Live in 2016
World Series by Renault European Union Live in 2015
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters European Union Live in 2015
Blancpain Endurance Series European Union Live in 2014
Blancpain Sprint Series European Union Live in 2015
International GT Open European Union Live in 2015
British Formula Three Championship United Kingdom Highlights in 2014
BRDC Formula 4 Championship United Kingdom Highlights in 2014
European Le Mans Series Europe Highlights in 2014
NASCAR United States Highlights in 2014
FIA European Formula Three Championship Europe Highlights in 2014
EuroV8 Series Europe Highlights in 2014
United SportsCar Championship United States
NHRA United States
Other sports
League Name Sport Nationality Broadcast Details
BDO World Darts Championship Darts United Nations Shared with Channel 4 (exclusive evening sessions, joint final coverage.)
Major League Baseball Baseball United States Canada
National Basketball Association Basketball United States Canada
Major League Lacrosse Lacrosse United States Canada
American College Sports various sports United States
X Games Multi-sport event United States
WTA Tennis United Nations Live until 2019
UFC Mixed martial arts United States Over 150 hours of live programming per year including all 12 live pay per view events and magazine shows such as UFC:Beyond the Octagon. Shared with BBC Online
Glory Kickboxing Singapore
Friday Night Fights Boxing United States
World Series Boxing Boxing United Nations
Revolution Cycling United Kingdom
Australian Football League Australian rules football Australia
Canadian Football League Canadian football Canada
Euroleague Basketball Basketball Europe
PSA World Tour Squash United Nations World Series Events, World Championship
European Games Multi-sport event Europe Live in 2015
America's Cup Sailing United Nations Live in 2017
America's Cup World Series Sailing United Nations Live in 2015–16
Hockey Champions Trophy Field Hockey United Nations
Hockey World League Field Hockey United Nations Finals Event Round Live in 2015
Henley Royal Regatta Rowing United Kingdom

References

  1. "BT Sport to make iCity and the Olympic Broadcast Centre its production home" (Press release). BT Group. 29 November 2012. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  2. "Inside BT Sport's 'inner sanctum'... the multi-million pound TV studio (with its own football pitch) that will look to give Sky a run for its money". Daily Mail. DMG Media. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  3. "BT bags two Sky EPG slots for sports channels". Cable.co.uk. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  4. 1 2 "BT Sport goes free". Broadband TV News. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  5. "BT and Virgin Media sign wholesale BT Sport deal". BT Group. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  6. Hancock, Ciaran (22 June 2013). "Setanta to net deal with BT to offer more live Premier League games in Ireland". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  7. "Setanta Sports adds BT Sport to its line-up". BT. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  8. "BT Sport gives viewers more content with new 'red button' service". BT Group. 19 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  9. "UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League to be free with BT TV". BT Group. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  10. "BT Sport FAQ". Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  11. "BT Sport free for millions of homes" (Press release). BT Group. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  12. "Premier League rights sold to BT and BSkyB for £3bn". BBC News. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  13. "BT signs four more live match deals with top football leagues" (Press release). BT Group. 29 October 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  14. "BT poaches Premiership Rugby rights from ESPN, Sky". Digital Spy. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  15. "BT Sport broadens appeal as it signs live women's tennis with WTA agreement" (Press release). BT Group. 11 January 2013. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  16. "BT Group acquires ESPN's UK and Ireland television channels business" (Press release). BT Group. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  17. "Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) confirms BT Sport deal". Seen It. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  18. "BT Sport to bring MotoGP™ to British audiences from 2014". MotoGP. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  19. "BT Sport unveils line-up of sporting talent" (Press release). BT Group. 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  20. "Champions League: BT Sport win £897m football rights deal". BBC Sport. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  21. "New era for the Champions League as BT Sport unveil Gerrard and Lineker as part of coverage after £900m deal to blow Sky away". Daily Mail. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  22. Evans, David (10 January 2014). "World Rally Championship seals BT Sport TV deal with live coverage". Autosport.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  23. "BT Sport wins all live UK TV rights to Champions League and Europa League". BT Sport. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  24. "Sky Sports wins live Premier League rights". Sky. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  25. Rumsby, Ben (10 February 2015). "Premier League TV deal: Sky Sports break bank to dominate £5.136bn contract". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  26. "Sky Sports wins live Premier League rights to end of 2018-19 season". Sky Sports. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  27. "BT Sport unveils two new live Saturday football shows". Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  28. "BT Sport to show UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals free-to-air". BT Sport. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  29. "Record viewing figures for Premiership Rugby".
  30. "BT Sport extend Aviva Premiership Deal". recombu.com. Recombu. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
  31. "BT Sport grab 2017-18 Ashes TV rights from Sky Sports in £80m coup". Mail Online. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
  32. "Clare Balding Show to air on BT and BBC". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
  33. http://sport.bt.com/sport-football/news/bt-sport-wins-rights-to-more-live-premier-league-matches-S11363959914966
  34. http://home.bt.com/news/sport-news/bt-sport-wins-joint-fa-cup-rights-11363816257650
  35. http://sport.bt.com/football/news/bt-sport-extends-fa-cup-broadcast-rights-deal-S11364051463786
  36. http://sport-onthebox.com/2015/04/06/bt-sport-extends-conference-national-league-tv-rights/
  37. https://www.sportindustry.biz/news/bt-sport-secures-england-u21-rights
  38. http://spfl.co.uk/news/article/spfl-agrees-new-deal-with-sky-amp-bt/

External links

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