BT To Charge GBP16.99/Month For Premier League Football Matches

1st Jul 2010 07:29

By Lilly Vitorovich Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Disgruntled football fans in England finally have something to smile about after telecommunications firm BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) Thursday outlined competitive subscription rates to watch Premier League football matches on its pay-television service. BT Vision customers will be able to receive Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 channels, which are owned by British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (BSY.LN) and show the majority of the Premier League football matches, for GBP16.99 a month. If customers only want one of the sports channels, it will cost them GBP11.99 on the provision they subscribe to a new 12 month broadband and BT Vision contract. At present, BSkyB doesn't offer a basic TV package consisting of just Sky Sports 1 and 2 channels to customers. Instead, the two channels are included in BSkyB TV packages. "Football fans will be cheering our new prices, which mark an end to paying for basic channels when you only want the sport," BT Retail Chief Executive Gavin Patterson said in a statement. BT's pricing details come just a few days after the company secured a wholesale deal with BSkyB, which owns the majority of the Premier League TV rights, that allows BT to broadcast Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2, which show Premier League football matches, on BT Vision from August. The BT deal is likely to trigger a price war with rival Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) which is also expected to reach an agreement with BSkyB before the U.K. Premier League season kicks off August 14. England's football fans were disappointed Sunday when the team was knocked out of the World Cup in South Africa. BT shares closed at 130 pence Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at GBP10.08 billion. News Corp., which owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal, holds about a 39% stake in BSkyB. -By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 02:29 ET (06:29 GMT)