BT Sport plans to again show the UEFA Champions League and Europa League finals live on social media and is looking for the right partner, according to John Petter, CEO, BT Consumer.
In a wide-ranging interview at a Royal Television Society (RTS) event in London, he added that in terms of monetisation there was a need for a mixed free and pay model.
Petter stressed that the benefits of using social media included obtaining marketing data and that it should be seen as part of an ecosystem.
While games from the two competitions other than the finals would not be shown live on social media, highlights and clips, even live ones, would be used as a recruiting tool.
Petter dismissed the suggestion that Sky may not have bid for the rights and also said that although BT Sport had paid considerably more for them than last time it had also obtained more.
The rights are now exclusive and there will be up to 35% more broadcasting slots, with two matches being shown each evening – at 18.00 and 20.00 – rather than running simultaneously.
Petter said that showing the finals live on YouTube last year had attracted a collective audience of 12 million and given younger people access to the events.
Asked about BT’s content strategy, Petter said that the business case for genres other than sport is more challenging.
However, the company has a deal in place with AMC that will come to its fruition with the broadcast of a number of new series this year.
It may look at moving into drama but in partnership with others rather than on its own.
