BT Group, a British telcom giant, said on Friday that they have added a significant number of pay TV subscribers in the recent past.
BT CEO Gavin Patterson told The Hollywood Reporter, "We achieved some particularly strong audience figures in December, and the exclusive rights to the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League that we have won will further strengthen the appeal of our proposition." In the quarter that ended Dec. 31, BT on Friday also said it added 150,000 broadband subscribers. BT Sport networks had more than 2.5 million users at the end of 2013.
In the past, BT has been in competition for sports rights with U.K. giant BSkyB. BSkyB is a British telcom giant. BT has not been quiet about their complaints regarding BSkyB. BT complained last June that BSkyB is abusing its market dominance by making the supply of its sports channels conditional. The sports channels, Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 would be offered to BT to see on a YouView digital platform conditional to BT offering three sports channels to telcom giant, BSkyB, according to Variety.
Patterson said that he was open to more discussion on the matter, but said that the two parties have had differing views.