Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

BT Group Forms New Premium Sports Joint Venture With Warner Bros. Discovery, BT Sport

13/05/2022

BT Group forms a new premium sports joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Sport JV to rebrand into single entity By Heather McLean, Editor

Thursday, May 12, 2022 - 17:32

Print This Story

BT Group and Warner Bros Discovery have announced a new joint venture (JV) that will provide viewers in the UK and Ireland with access to both broadcasters' content. Going forward, both products will be rebranded under a new identity.

Following its announcement of exclusive discussions on 3 February 2022, BT Group has agreed a set of definitive agreements with Warner Bros. Discovery to form a 50:50 joint venture company to create a new premium sport offering for the UK and Ireland and to transfer the operating businesses of BT Sport to Warner Bros. Discovery.

It's not about swapping one for the other or replacing one with the other. It's actually additive; we're adding rights and we're adding capability and we're adding the strength of two global companies around what we're doing and that is of increased value

Speaking in a press conference, Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, comments: Warner Brothers Discovery will take on the operating control and day-to-day functions of the joint venture. As part of that, the BT Sport team, who've done a fantastic job in building what is a premium sports product in the UK market, will join our team and we'll have one single team operating all platforms across both the Eurosport UK business and the BT Sport business.

By bringing together the sports content offering of both BT Sport and Eurosport UK, the JV will have an extensive portfolio of premium sports rights including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, the Premier League, Premiership Rugby, UFC, the Olympic Games, tennis Grand Slams featuring the Australian Open and Roland-Garros, cycling Grand Tours including the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, and the winter sports World Cup season.

Those customers who access BT Sport through BT directly, and the majority of BT TV customers, are set to now receive discovery , the entertainment streaming service which is home to Eurosport's live and on-demand streaming offer in the UK and Ireland, as part of existing subscriptions.

Continues Georgiou: We have to go through regulatory approval and so until that happens, we're not really at the start line and that's our next focus. But once that happens, then what will happen in the marketplace is pretty simple. Eurosports, UK and BT sports will remain as is for a period of time in what I call phase two. Then beyond that, we plan to bring the sports content from both businesses into a single new brand that we will launch into the marketplace.

Single new brand for bigger service

On the coming single new brand, Discovery Sports senior vice president of content and production, Scott Young, says that following on from Warner Bros.' recent announcement in March that it is going to combine Discovery and HBO Max content into a single product, he expects BT Sport to become part of that proposition.

To the average punter on the high street, who is Discovery? No one's really heard of Discovery and more to the matter, Discovery . So what's the branding of this entity going to be? And that's crucial to the future of this venture

Young explains: As we evolve over time, bringing the BT Sport and Eurosport UK content onto the same product is a really compelling consumer proposition because we have got a lot of fragmentation and we are saying to the consumer, actually, this is one product where you can get a lot of great genres of content in one place that can satisfy very many different members of every household.

I think that is a really big winning formula for us. So that is really exciting, Young notes.

On whether BT Sport should be concerned in any way that the brand loyalty and recognition the broadcaster has in the UK will be undermined by the new Discovery brand, which is less widely recognised in the country, BT Sport chief operating officer, Jamie Hindhaugh, says a resounding no , while Georgiou says: I think consumers are going to get a better value proposition [which] is ultimately what we're trying to do through this experience. It's not about swapping one for the other or replacing one with the other. It's actually additive; we're adding rights and we're adding capability and we're adding the strength of two global companies around what we're doing and that is of increased value. So I hope the fans who currently engage on either platform at the moment will see an improvement in what their perception is of a combined service and offering. That's ultimately our goal.

However, Paolo Pescatore, tech, media and telco analyst at PP Foresight, has a more cautious view on the plan to merge the content of both broadcasters under a single brand: To the average punter on the high street, who is Discovery? No one's really heard of Discovery and more to the matter, Discovery . So what's the branding of this entity going to be? And that's crucial to the future of this venture.

Simon Green [former head of BT Sport] and Jamie Hindhaugh have done a really great job of focusing on the BT Sport product and taking people to the heart of sports, from big screens to the living room and out and about on mobile devices, continues Pescatore. They will have to be very careful on how they manage this new entity; BT Sport is very much in people homes and hearts, but Discovery isn't. This future brand is a huge question mark - not for BT Sport, but for Discovery. Whereas BT Sport is very clear as a sports-focused service, when you look at Discovery, it's been hugely fragmented - with Discovery, Discovery , Eurosport, and now Warner Bro
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/bt-group-forms-a-new-premium-...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

23/07/2026

Record-breaking World Cup has advertisers cheering

Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 23rd, JULY, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), stitched 11.57 billion one-to-one addressable advertisem...

23/07/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Shansley Glenn, University of Oklahoma

This Spring 2026 graduate from Honolulu found a home at SoonerVision as a live-production star and is ready to enter the industry as a replay op on Prime Video&...

23/07/2026

Miked Up Is an Everyday Deal for the Athletes Unlimited Softball League

As the AUSL postseason begins tonight, listening in to players during games enhances fan engagement for the young organization Ballplayers chatting with announ...

23/07/2026

Snap Announces AR and Creator Activations at Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris

Snap Inc. and the Esports Foundation have announced Snap's activations at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, running July 6 through August 23. For the fir...

23/07/2026

Sony Introduces FX5 Full-Frame Cinema Line Camera

Sony has announced the FX5, a full-frame Cinema Line camera built around a newly developed fully stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and BIONZ XR2 image processi...

23/07/2026

TNDV Powers Pickleball Slam 4 Broadcast for Ohlmeyer Kusserow Group

TNDV (a division of Live Media Group) provided technical production support for the Pickleball Slam 4 live broadcast from Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, ...

23/07/2026

LTN Surpasses 3,000 Satellite-to-IP Migrations as FCC Approves Upper C-Band Auction Rules

LTN has announced it has completed satellite-to-IP migrations for more than 3,00...

23/07/2026

Daktronics Announces 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase Winners

Daktronics has announced the winners of the 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase, a national competition recognizing student work in media production, storytellin...

23/07/2026

beIN Sports Extends Exclusive Roland-Garros Rights Across 10 Asian Markets Through 2031

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and beIN Media Group have announced a five-ye...

23/07/2026

Clear-Com Provides Intercom System for Fryderyk Awards Gala at Tauron Arena Krakw

Clear-Com provided the communications infrastructure for the Fryderyk Awards Gal...

23/07/2026

How the FIFA World Cup's Record Revenue Masks a Structural Market Contraction

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is, on paper, an unparalleled financial success. Total t...

23/07/2026

From Green Screen to LED: How BBC Sport's World Cup Studio Became the Blueprint for Match of the Day

Standing inside HQ3 at MediaCity Studios during the FIFA World Cup 2026, it quic...

23/07/2026

How the 2026 FIFA World Cup Tightened the Bond Between the FOX Sports Digital, Linear Teams

Having attracted upwards of 17 billion views throughout the tourney, the broadca...

23/07/2026

Low End Candy release Preverb

Quickly creates reverse reverb effects Low End Candy have recently released a new plug-in that offers a quick and simple way to create reverse reverb effect...

23/07/2026

Expressive E Noisy 2.6 arrives

New engines, resonators, effects & more Expressive E's versatile soft synth has just been treated to an update that greatly expands its sonic range. Noi...

23/07/2026

SGL Carbon expands photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site

SGL Carbon has further expanded its photovoltaic capacity at its Ort im Innkreis site in Austria. With the commissioning of new PV carports, the sites solar sys...

23/07/2026

NITV launches new By Mob For Mob series in partnership with NRMA Insurance

NITV launches new By Mob For Mob series in partnership with NRMA Insurance 23 July, 2026 Media releases National Indigenous Television (NITV) has launched ...

23/07/2026

Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO series oscilloscopes

Rohde & Schwarz presents new software for three-phase power analysis on MXO seri...

23/07/2026

Why The Next Big Opportunity in Sports Lies Outside the Stadium

In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni explores how the launch of Play Snooker reflects a wider shift in sports economics - from monetising peak broadcast audiences ...

23/07/2026

Scaling Smart with Vivid Broadcast

Download Now! To receive a short case study showcasing Vivid Broadcast's audio setup, please enter the following details: -- First Name* First Name ...

23/07/2026

Sony Unveils FX5 Full-Frame Camera

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Sachtler To Show Akti8T Fluid Head, Flowtech75 Tripod At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

NextGen TV Launches in Cleveland

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Yospace Stitched 11.57 Billion Ads into Live Streams During World Cup

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

At IBC2026 Witbe Will Showcase Tests That Build Themselve...

Witbe brings its AI-native testing and monitoring infrastructure to Amsterdam: demonstrations on real devices, a peer-reviewed technical paper in the conference...

23/07/2026

Quickplay Caretta Research Evergent and Yospace Announce...

Quickplay, Caretta Research, Evergent, and Yospace have announced that the renowned IBC Pride Happy Hour will once again bring the vibe and fun back to IBC on F...

23/07/2026

IBC2026 Interra Systems Brings Trusted Media Intelligence...

At IBC2026, Interra Systems will present this year's focus: operational AI at scale for QC, monitoring, and captioning workflows. The industry has moved pas...

23/07/2026

Illusionfx is finally coming!

Illusionfx is finally coming! Alex Perea July 23, 2026 0 Comments The new website is now live to mark the occasion. Since the last update, feedback h...

23/07/2026

Evergent showcases AI agents for streaming retention at I...

Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...

23/07/2026

Brian Jones Named NCTCs New CFO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

Scripps Unites TV Operations Under Dean Littleton's Leadership

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/07/2026

2D House is First North American Rental Facility to Offer...

David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...

23/07/2026

Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program

Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026 Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...

23/07/2026

X-Rite Pantone and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Partner to Advance Digital Color Education

X-Rite Pantone and Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) Partner to Advance Digi...

23/07/2026

New Samsung Galaxy Foldable range available now to pre-order on Sky Mobile

Thursday 23 July 2026 New Samsung Galaxy Foldable range available now to pre-order on Sky Mobile Sky Mobile, the award-winning network voted this year by Expe...

23/07/2026

Jason Statham leads Sky Original action thriller MUTINY in explosive new trailer

Thursday 23 July 2026 Jason Statham leads Sky Original action thriller MUTINY in explosive new trailerTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy optio...

23/07/2026

Riedel Implements RefCam and Easy5G for the First Time at an International Soccer Match

Wuppertal July 23, 2026 Riedel Implements RefCam and Easy5G for the First Time...

23/07/2026

Centra returning as the official food partner of The Traitors Ireland

RT Commercial has today announced Centra as the official food partner once again of The Traitors Ireland, coming to RT One and RT Player later this year. Ce...

23/07/2026

Honda sponsors Today with David McCullagh on RT Radio 1

RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am. Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...

23/07/2026

RT NEWS ANNOUNCES NEW JOURNALIST REPORTING FROM ACROSS CORK AND KERRY

RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region Working al...

23/07/2026

GeForce NOW Sets Sail With Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame' Joining the Cloud

Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...

22/07/2026

ESPN's AutoMic Technology Pays Off at Wimbledon; Baker Credits Team, AELTC for Successful Fortnight

Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...

22/07/2026

Australian Sports Technologies Network Reports Industry Growth of 16% in 2026

The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...

22/07/2026

Production Wins, Man!': Men in Blazers' Founder Roger Bennett on Winning the FIFA World Cup as a Digital Media Brand

From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...

22/07/2026

TMRW Sports Appoints Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football

TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...

22/07/2026

Stephen Arnold Music Creates Audio for FIFA World Cup Projection Mapping Display at Rockefeller Center

Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...