BT Sport Interview
For the FrequencyCast Technology Show, we spoke to Pete Oliver from BT about the plans for the upcoming launch of BT Sport. Here, you'll find our exclusive interview and show transcript
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 88, featuring our BT interview |
What BT Sport Has In Store:
We caught up with Commercial Director for BT, Pete Oliver. Here's the transcript of our iinterview recorded in May 2013
Pete:
Focus Time - hello, Kelly.
Kelly:
Hello, Pete.
Pete:
You have had a very busy few weeks, haven't you? What have you been up to?
Kelly:
Oh, I've moved house and office in the space of two weeks.
Pete:
And how's the house move gone?
Kelly:
Yeah - really, really well. We had a few hiccups: both the oven and the washing machine blew up, and we've also found out we've got to rewire the house, which has made us really sad.
Pete:
You've got some old two-pin mains plugs? - which I'm not entirely sure are very safe.
Kelly:
Yeah, it's a concern.
Pete:
I would be very worried. What you do have though, which I'm very pleased about, is you've got Virgin Media. How are you finding that?
Kelly:
I really like Virgin Media, actually. The main reason we went with them is because they have the best broadband service in our area, but the TV package and everything that comes with it's really good as well.
Pete:
Talking TV, there's been a fairly exciting announcement affecting TV. Now, you must have seen all the TV ads for this big new TV service that's launching?
Kelly:
Ah yes, of course I have - BT Sport.
Pete:
And we've already had lots of enquiries about this one. Do you know anything about the service?
Kelly:
Not that much, really.
Pete:
You must know the headline, though. Now, Sky charge you for access to Sky Sports. How much is the BT stuff going to cost?
Kelly:
Well, that's going to be absolutely free.
Pete:
Sky clearly have dominated TV sports for a long time. There's been people like Setanta and ESPN and a few others that have tried it, but BT are going for it big time. By offering their services for free, it is going to be quite a game-changer. Funnily enough, game-changer is the phrase that BT are using for their sports service. So shall we have a little look at what it's all about?
Kelly:
Ooh, yes please!
Pete:
Well, to find out more about the two BT sport channels that launch on 1st August 2013, we spoke to Pete Oliver, who is the Commercial Director for BT.
Pete O:
We're very excited about this, so you'll have seen probably quite a lot of the marketing for BT Sport, and BT Sport is actually going to be a package of three channels. So there'll be BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 2, but in addition to that, people who take BT Sport will also get ESPN, which has moved to BT from next season. On those channels, we're going to have Premier League football, so we'll have 38 games, but crucially 18 of those games will be first picks, so these are the really big games for the top six teams playing against each other. Previously, those first pick games have only been available on Sky, so for the first time some of the top games will be on another channel, be on our channels. We've got all of the premiership rugby - that's exclusive to BT Sport; we've got the women's tennis; we've got the MotoGP, UFC, and actually a lot more than that - football from other leagues, things like Serie A and so on, and some American sports will be coming over with ESPN as well.
Pete:
Now, I have to ask, you're not the first company to challenge Sky's dominance when it comes to TV sport. I'm thinking particularly of Setanta here. Now, what would you say makes BT's sports offering different?
Pete O:
The first thing to say is, BT's made a very big investment in the BT Sport channels. So as I mentioned before, we've got some great, great sport on the channel. We've got, for the first time, those first pick games - the likes of Manchester United playing Man City, the Chelseas of this world. The fixture list isn't out yet. What we do know is, because of the way that the rights have been sold by the Premier League, 18 of those first pick games will be on BT, and that's roughly half of the match list, so that will be the first time that those big games haven't been on the Sky channels.
I think the other thing, though, is we're investing in the channel itself, so we've taken out a tenure lease on our new studio near the Olympic Park. I think people will be really interested in the way we're going to present the sports coverage. We've got a really innovative format that will be coming from the studio. We've also invested very heavily in bringing really big names to the channel, to make the experience great for viewers as well.
Pete:
So, how does one go about getting hold of BT Sport? Obviously, it's available to BT customers, but could you just talk us through the various different ways that people can watch this new sports service?
Pete O:
Obviously, if you're a BT customer, you can get it on BT TV, so on our BT Vision, or our YouView boxes. I think importantly, though, it'll also be available on Sky, so if you've got a satellite TV box, a Sky box at the moment, you have to order the channel from us, from BT. You give us a call, or go to BT.com, and you can get access to all three channels in standard definition or high definition on a Sky box as well. And then finally, it's also available on a digital app, so for all BT Broadband customers, they'll be able to get access to the channel through the PC or an Apple Mac, or any Android or Apple-based device like an iPhone, or an iPad.
Pete:
OK, so that's how to get the channels. Now, the key question is, how much is it to get the channels?
Pete O:
It's a great question, and I'm sure you've seen some of the ads. So it's free if you're a BT Broadband customer, and that includes BT Infinity as well. You just have to re-contract your broadband with us for twelve months, or if you're in a contract already, that's fine as well - we won't make it any longer than twelve months. Again, it's important to mention that you can get it free on Sky, so if you've got satellite TV, and you want to get the channel for free, if you've got BT Broadband, you can just call us up with your Sky card, and you'll get it for free. If you switch your phone and broadband to BT, you don't have to switch your TV service. You can get the channels for free on Sky as well. If someone doesn't want to take BT Broadband, then they can also pay the standard price on Sky, which is £12 a month with a £15 activation charge as a one-off fee. But as I say, so with BT Broadband or BT Infinity, it's completely free, and if people sign up before 1st August, they'll get the high-definition channels for free as well.
Pete:
So what happens for customers that don't have Sky, but don't yet have BT fibre where they live?
Pete O:
First of all, just to confirm, if you're in an Infinity area, you'll be able to get a BT TV box, and you'll get all the channels in high-definition - it'll come over the BT Infinity fibre line. But actually, if you're not in an Infinity area, you can still get the channels for free with BT as well. To do that, we have a TV box from BT that lets you get the channels through your standard TV aerial, and you'll be able to get BT Sport 1 and 2 through your TV aerial, and it'll be in standard definition, but it'll be delivered a bit like Freeview, through the TV aerial to the BT box, and again those channels will be free. The other thing, if you don't live in an Infinity area, is that you will also be able to get access to the channels through our digital app. ESPN won't be available through the TV aerial, but if you had the TV box, and you're getting BT Sport 1 and 2 through the TV aerial, you could, if you wanted to, watch ESPN on your iPad or PC.
Pete:
Now, one name we've not mentioned so far is Virgin. If I've got this right, at the moment it's looking like BT Sport won't be available to Virgin Media cable customers. Have I got that right?
Pete O:
Currently, BT Sport's only available on the BT TV platform, so YouView and BT Vision, and via Sky and our digital app. At the moment, there are no announced plans to make it available on any other TV services, like Virgin Media. Having said that, we've said, and we've been very public about this, that we're happy to talk to other TV providers, and so it may be possible that something would happen. The thing that's certain at the moment is, you can get it with us, with BT. If you look at what you can get from us now, we do a very good price on fibre-optic broadband, starting now from £15 a month up to 40 MB, so fast broadband, which we know is important to customers with Virgin. With our BT TV service, you can now get extra channels over the broadband, including Sky Sports 1 and 2. So it is possible to switch to BT, get the sport for free, get fibre, get Sky Sports 1 and 2, but our view is that, depending on what package you're with, you could save £200 - £300 a year if you move to BT, and get the channels for free.
Pete:
Thanks very much to Pete Oliver, Commercial Director for BT, for updating us on BT Sport. For more information, and a longer version of that interview, please go to our website: www.frequencycast.co.uk/BTSport.
Transcript continues: How to upgrade your computer RAM
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 88 (30 mins) |
More information:
- BT Sport - Official Website
- BT Sport Explored
- BT Vision Reviewed
- BT Vision Review Transcript
- YouView from BT
Share This Page:
