BT and Sky have agreed terms for the continued offering of some Sky Sports content on the BT TV platform.
Earlier this week Sky unveiled a radical rebranding of its entire sports channel line-up which will move away from their current number-based names to new sport specific branding.
While Virgin Media and TalkTalk have wholesale deals in place with Sky which allow them to offer all of its channels to their customers, the satellite broadcaster and BT are locked in dispute over access to each other’s content.
As a result of the long-running spat BT customers are unable to access any of Sky’s entertainment channels and the ISP i limited to offering only Standard Definition versions of Sky Movies and just two of Sky’s existing sports channels.
In turn the broadband giant turned broadcaster refuses to wholesale its own sports channels and AMC, the US drama channel it has exclusive UK rights to, to Sky.
Instead it sells the channels direct to its competitor’s customers by making use of an Ofcom ruling allowing all channel owners to unlock channels on a customer’s viewing card.
With Sky pulling the plug on its existing sports channels BT risked losing the ability to show any of its competitor’s sporting action.
Both companies have been locked in talks and have now agreed a deal which gives BT access to two channels.
The first, Sky Sports Main Event, will offer live Premier League football plus international qualifiers and selected games from EFL and La Liga.
In addition to football, the channel will also show some fixtures from F1, the Ryder Cup, England Test cricket, and international Rugby Union.
BT customers will also get access to Sky Sports Extra which will show Premier League matches when they clash with other live content being shown on Sky Sports Main Event.
