BT’s decision to enter the premium TV sports market is paying off, according to Alex Green, the telco’s director of TV told the TV Connect conference in London.
The operator is now into the second year of operation having purchased rights to the Premier League and a number of other high profile events including rugby and tennis.
Asked about taking the service OTT to deliver to a wider audience – it already has apps that users can run on rival networks – Green pointed out that as Britain’s broadband market leader it already has a sizeable addressable audience and its focus remains on cementing its relationship further with the existing customer base.
“BT Sport, like other BT TV services, is cross-promoted as a value-add to BT Broadband customers and its positioning highlights the key difference between telco TV operators and their cable or satellite counterparts, which is the fact that TV is primarily a vehicle for selling broadband rather than the other way around,” said Jonathan Doran, Principal Analyst, Consumer Services, Ovum.
Green said its shareprice has almost doubled since the costly purchase of Premier League rights at the start of the 2013/14 season and the recent renewal.
