BT plans to bid for video-on-demand rights to Premiership football for the 2007-2010 seasons for its new TV-over-broadband service.
BT plans to bid for video-on-demand rights to Premiership football for the 2007-2010 seasons for its new TV-over-broadband service.

Dan Marks, chief executive of BT television services, said that it was extremely unlikely the telecoms group would bid for broadcast TV rights but would consider on-demand rights.

He told Broadcast: "We do not see ourselves as a broadcaster because we are not broadcasting channels over our lines. We are making content available to customers on demand. So yes, we will consider every possibility when it comes to on demand rights for sports."

BT has said it will begin trials of its TV-over-broadband service by autumn 2006 and this week (26 October) announced a deal with electronics company Philips to supply its set-top box.

  • James Soames, BSkyB's head of marketing, DTH, will join BT television services in the new year as head of product marketing. The news comes as BT and BSkyB square up to compete in the "triple play" market after Sky's£211m acquisition of BT rival Easynet.