BT Sport - General Discussion

I notice in the latest press ads the 2013/14 FA Cup matches are being promoted as 'exclusively on ESPN, included in the BT Sport pack.'

I assumed the ESPN channel they licenced would be used for American and more obscure stuff and mainstream content would just be transferred to the main BT Sport channels.

So is this a ruse to make the package seem better value or a boring contractual obligation anomaly (I think a new FA Cup deal starts the season after next anyway?).

Cancel ESPN with them though and they're asking if you'd like to stay for their other services. They didn't get chance to tell me what those other services were but an hour of Gold and an hour of Home wasn't going to tempt me!

Anyone placed their order yet for BT Sport?

Yes. It was easy-peasy.

BT reportedly confirmed to have signed a deal for Conference football in the Non-League paper this morning.

Yup. Simple to do. I have BT Infinity ( brilliant 55 meg download ). Sent my Sky card number and received email confirmation from BT. So 3 free sport channels plus HD service free for next 12 months ( but you have to register before 1st August ). I know many people knock BT, but I've never had any issues since I took the phone and infinity package over a year ago.

Plenty will be knocking them when this perk disappears a year down the line.

Well £3 a month for the HD sports channels is hardly exorbitant.

It's highly unlikely the channel itself though will be free to BT customers for the long haul.

Of course it will - that's the whole point of it.

Yes, it's to sell BT's Broadband and win back broadband subscribers, they aren't starting up a sport channel for the sake of running a sport channel.

Yes, in the same way Sky Sports was to sell Astra satellite equipment...

The funny thing is, Top Up TV has now been going for almost 9 1/2 years - it launched way back in March 2004. Yet at the time I remember various threads on this very forum ranging from anger to incredulation to ridicule at the thought of bringing pay TV back to DTT after ITV Digital failed so spectacularly (then) less than 2 years previously and there were many predictions that On Digital / ITV Digital had conclusively proved that pay TV through DTT would not work and people absolutely would not be prepared to pay for DTT ever again.

Over time it has changed out of all recognition of what it launched as, but it's still going nonetheless. If this finally is it for Top Up TV, I don't really think it can be viewed as a failure given how long it's lasted versus how long it was predicted to last.