Telcos to make joint bid?
THE battle for the lucrative broadcast rights of the English Premier League (EPL) is about to begin anew, but a new report claims that two of the warring sides may form an unlikely alliance.
According to a research paper from Deutsche Bank, telco giants SingTel and StarHub are 'increasingly likely' to launch a joint bid to secure the rights to screen EPL matches here for the next three seasons. Such a move could stem escalating pay-TV subscription fees, which have drawn widespread complaints from sports fans here.
'We believe both StarHub and SingTel are planning on submitting a joint bid for the Premier League in order to prevent a bidding war and excessive content costs,' said the report, which was released last week for the bank's clients.
'We view a joint bid followed by equal sharing as the best possible outcome for StarHub, while allowing SingTel to continue developing its pay-TV platform.'
There is just one catch. The Premier League, the content provider, does not allow combined offers under its current rules, preferring to pit one competitor against another in a bidding exercise.
'The broadcast rights we presently own for the Barclays Premier League are offered on an exclusive basis with strict terms that do not allow for collaboration between pay-TV operators,' StarHub's head of content Kathleen Syron told The Straits Times on Thursday. 'We will be submitting a bid for the 2010-2013 seasons to the FA Premier League and are unable to share our bidding strategy.'
SingTel also kept its cards close to its chest. When asked about the possibility of a team-up, a spokesman said: 'Good football content is a very important aspect of the mio TV business, and we will act accordingly when we receive the EPL bid documents.'
However, the report also predicted that the telcos may yet hold the trump card, if they insist on collaborating.
Said Deutsche Bank: 'If the Premier League refuses to take a joint bid, then they could well be ruling out the two largest and most credible Singapore bidders - which may result in relatively low subsequent proceeds.'
A new auction for the 2010-2013 EPL rights is set to kick off next month, with the winner announced by the end of the year. If a combined SingTel-StarHub bid does not materialise, observers say a three-cornered fight is the next likely scenario, with former rights holders ESPN StarSports also keen to join the fray.
this should be the way man.
not make consumers like us suffer from the battle -.-
but like this i wonder how they gonna decide which matches go to which channels.
bad news
i think both mio and starhub also show the match