BT sees its future in sports as BSkyB moves into broadband

BT Group Plc, the company once known as British Telecom and a descendant of the world’s first national telegraph operator, has seen the future: soccer, rugby and tennis.

As BT moves beyond its 165-year-old business of offering communications over wires, the company is entering the British sports-broadcasting arena — a competitive field that has frustrated more experienced entrants.

BT is poised to spend £1 billion ($1.6 billion) over the next three years on sports rights alone as it works to get its new venture, BT Sport, up and running.

The service will be offered to BT’s TV subscribers this summer. It will compete with free programming from the publicly funded British Broadcasting Corp. and paid services offered by British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc.

What they’ve done is essentially bought themselves a tool of relevance, said Guy Peddy, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd. in London. Without pay TV or access to pay TV they would struggle to compete in the longer term.

BT shares fell 0.2% to 281.70 pence at 8:34 am in London. The stock has advanced 22% this year, while BSkyB shares have risen 13%.

BT plans to announce details about BT Sport on 9 May at the channel’s headquarters, the building in East London’s Olympic Park that served as the media center for the 2012 games. The company declined to comment on the venture’s total cost.

To give its efforts credence, BT has poached star presenters from other networks. These include Olympic talking- head and BBC Radio veteran Clare Balding, former English national rugby team captain Lawrence Dallaglio, and Jake Humphrey, a former host of BBC Formula One broadcasts.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/international-news/item/2480-bt-sees-its-future-in-sports-as-bskyb-moves-into-broadband.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/international-news/item/2480-bt-sees-its-future-in-sports-as-bskyb-moves-into-broadband.html