BT Sport In Relaxed Mood Ahead Of Sky Contest

With their official launch now precisely one month away, new UK sports broadcasting brand BT Sport will be finalising their plans to enter the market, with the three-pronged offering of channels (BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2, and a takeover of existing network ESPN UK) rolling out with the intention of being a platform to rival that of pay-tv dominant force Sky Sports.

Despite the strong business intentions, however, the subsidiary of the region’s largest telecommunications provider will not be putting pressure on executives or presenters to bombard viewers with statistics or hyperbole, instead promising to offer a ‘more relaxed’ sporting coverage than their rivals.

A source of the channel claimed while speaking to Radio Times that BT’s on-air efforts during the 2013-14 sporting season will be seen as ‘less formal’ than that of rivals. With the intention of ‘appealing to sports fans of all tastes’, they will focus less on ‘on-screen technical gizmos’ and statistical data, instead aiming to provide informal chat and more focus on the games as a whole as a genuine alternative to what is generally seen as an almost permanent ‘sport is serious business’ approach by Sky.

The source summarised of their attempts to ‘give football back to the nation’ through their broadband package deal and on-screen presence: “We want people who love sport to enjoy watching it – it’s quite simple.”

BT Vision chief Marc Watson recently added of BT Sport’s plans, and how it is not just a gimmick to attract more internet service customers (even if it appears to be working based on current surveys on consumer intention). Watson stated: “We have deep pockets. We are not dependent on achieving a certain number of subscribers to stay in business. [However,] we’ll review it [the broadband/sport combined package] as we review all our products and see how it is doing over the course of the next year and decide what we do going forward. It is not a gimmick, it is intended to be a long-term offer, but we’ll see.”

For their approach in broadcasting, however, the lighthearted broadcast (that are promoting themselves as such judging by the video below) has been one that has been attempted to an extend by previous challengers Setanta Sports and ESPN, both of which can be deemed ‘failures’ in any serious attempts to outmuscle Sky’s market share, so will it be third time lucky for Sky Sports’ newest rival? Whatever happens, the ‘refreshing’ attitude of BT Sport should be enough to at least give the sports market some sort of legacy in comedy, if Setanta can do it…