BT in Talks to Show Premier League Football on Terrestrial TV

Premier League football could be shown on terrestrial television channel ITV according to reports in the The Daily Telegraph.

Reports suggested that the telecoms company, adiposity who bid £738 million on rights to 38 matches per season, is in talks with ITV to allow some of the matches to be shown to a national audience.

BT’s deal is for three-years and starts at the beginning of the 2013/14 season and any deal with ITV would allow the company to showcase their pay-television service, BT Vision, to a wider audience.

The Daily Telegraph reported that BT is willing to do the deal with ITV to, “showcase a sample of the content it offers…and also to recoup a portion of its outlay on the high profile matches.”

BT’s successful deal to broadcast England’s top flight caused BSkyB to pay £2.28 billion to broadcast 116 Premier League games per season in a staggering deal that led to £500 million going from its share price because investors felt the company had overpaid.

The Telegraph report believed ITV and BT are capable of damaging BSkyB’s hold on football coverage. The report said: “ITV wrangles with BSkyB for viewers and advertisers, while BT regularly loses broadband and telephone customers to the pay-TV company because they sign up for its bundled deals.

“Neither company has the wherewithal to tackle BSkyB single-handed but together the could make a serious dent.”