back to article Virgin Media signs 3-year telly deal with BT Sport

BT has inked a three-year wholesale deal with Virgin Media to allow the cable company to serve BT Sport television channels to its customers. Financial terms of the agreement were kept secret. It comes just days before the kickoff of the new Premier League season and is a clear move to gently lean on pay-TV behemoth BSkyB. …

COMMENTS

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  1. Bit Brain

    Not too fussed about the BT Sports channels…

    …but I'm so glad to have ESPN back. I was getting withdrawals after ESPN America closed down. Luckily I have an Apple TV and a subscription to MLB.tv but missed shows like Baseball Tonight.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Here come the 50 obligatory comments from people making sure everyone else knows they don't like football.

  3. Don Dumb
    Flame

    Not just football

    I do get annoyed when football (a sport I do like but just not my favourite) dominates to the exent that it is the only sport talked about. The arrival of BT Sport affects rugby fans much more than football fans.

    This season, you can watch many live football Premiership games on other broadcasters and several broadcasters, even the BBC, show extended highlights of them all. However, you can only watch live Pemiership Rugby on BT Sport, with a small highlights package on ITV.

    From a selfish point of view, it's a real kick in the teeth for me, I have Sky (broadband and telly) in the house, I was looking forward to watching the cricket and the rugby. Now after the Lions tour has ended I just get the cricket. If I wanted to watch football it wouldn't matter, still loads of games on Sky and tons of highlights of every game. Unfortunately ITV's highlights of the rugby is awful, usually terrible quality and most games are just 30 second round ups of of the trys.

    Breaking up the sports on TV was supposed to help the consumer but the unintended consequence is that we end up having to pay more for what we want and were getting.

    1. Simon B
      Stop

      Re: Not just football

      BT Sport have also taken Moto GP away, and is going to make THAT something only viewable by those wishing to go from free to watch on the bbc to giveusyourmoneynow BT Sports!

      1. Shrimpling
        Thumb Up

        Re: Not just football

        Look on the bright side... At least you won't need to put up with Charlie Cox and his hell in a bubble car commentating anymore.

        1. mrfill

          Re: Not just football

          Its a *nightmare* in a bubble car. Get it right ;)

          And we haven't been told who will be commentating - it might suit them to have Cox/Parrish but we can only hope that it doesnt. Gavin Emmett & Nick Harris would be my choice. At least they can pronounce the riders names properly which cannot be said for Tony Moodily and Jillian Riddler who keep talking about the brothers Espaggro.

          I just hope they can keep adverts away and not keep trying to flog us sanitary towels etc in the middle of a race

    2. Tom 38

      Re: Not just football

      CPL is also on BT Sports too, meaning I cant watch The Mighty¹ (St Lucia) Zouks on "We <3 Cricket" Sky.

      ¹ They totally missed a trick there - I'm sure Disney wouldn't have sued them much.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    As an existing VM XL customer: MotoGP

    Fuck me!

    That is all.

  5. Downside

    Unexpected item in channel area

    smug Virgin XL customer writes :-

    Excellent news - extra sport for free! Well done Virgin & BT

    Totally unexpected news that.

    1. King Jack
      Facepalm

      Re: Unexpected item in channel area

      Don't feel too smug, next year the other shoe falls. Remember what happened to F1? Free for a year then the thumb screws come out. Beats me why people celebrate the removal of 'free' stuff and welcome paywalls.

      1. Richard 81
        Flame

        Re: Unexpected item in channel area

        Free? Don't you believe it!

        Remember that "free" network upgrade? I fully expect all of our bills to go up very soon to pay for this.

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

      3. MJI Silver badge

        Re: F1

        I have managed to go from watching every race to not even knowing who won a race.

        Started this just after I saw the results on BBC news home page and it was not yet broadcast, and my complaint was brushed over.

        I WAS going to get another LNB for RTL but instead I lost interest, very good for sport that, fans losing interest.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This must be why BT weren't willing to budge much on price when I rang to ask for a MAC code to switch ISP. I was on their top Infinity 2 package and yet were unable to make any offer to stay. They must have to pay for all that football somehow...

  7. Elmer Phud

    Fairly happy bunny

    Happy as this is a Murdoch-free zone here.

    Fairly happy as it's part of my BT package anyway.

    Not that happy if I lose Charlie Cox (who ought to be doing F1 anyway).

    Might start watching football again

    Could do with some Rugby League (despite me being a Southerner)

    1. mrfill

      Re: Fairly happy bunny

      Wash your mouth out! Cox should be kept as far away as possible from F1. Coulthard and shouty man do a really quite uninteresting commentary but even that surpasses the fox shooter. I suppose he could replace the tedious golf-obsessed twat that fronts the Sky show with Hinge and Bracket.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Cox

      F1 needs Cox like a third armpit.

  8. Paul 181

    web streams

    You can watch the bt sport web streams on any 2 device's simultaneously

    If you know any bt customers perhaps they will let you login

  9. Busby

    Since BT insist on bundling the pile of shite thats BT vision if you want a decent internet package we have had vision for around three years.

    Moved home last december and didnt bother hooking the box up until today as my kid wants to watch the football channels.

    Noticed they have a nicer interface now but the selection of content hasn't really improved. Assume nothing has changed and they still constantly recycle the same content.

    For anyone tempted to jump to BT vision for the (very limited) football don't bother it seems brilliant at first glance but you soon realise they spend peanuts on content. So something will be available to stream for a few months will disappear for a short while then promoted as new content a few weeks down the line when it reappears.

    1. deadmonkey

      Aren't you saying you haven't used it since December, but that people should form an opinion based on your hunch of what it's probably like 8 months later?

  10. Oneman2Many

    nobody mentioned ufc ?

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