Looking to expand their sporting offering, secondary UK pay-TV provider Virgin Media have announced an addition to their TiVo connected set-top boxes, the introduction of a ‘bespoke’ app from pan-European broadcasters Eurosport.
Aiming to offer users all the features of Eurosport’s UK website, the service has been announced as offering viewers on the platform the opportunity to see video content from the site, including news, interviews, and highlights over a selection of different sports.
In addition, the app provides ‘in-depth’ coverage of ongoing major events in sport, such as the current French Open tennis tournament, providing live matches and highlights to streamers, along with text-based news and features.
Subscribers to the TiVo service are noted as being able to access the app by virtue of pressing the red button on a local Eurosport channel (British Eurosport or British Eurosport 2, or their HD versions), or through the set-top box’s ‘Apps & Games’ menu section.
As they seek to bolster a set of sports packages which is soon to also include Sky Sports HD coverage (joining regular Sky Sports programming and BT Sport), will Virgin Media’s efforts to become a one-stop hub of content in the genre prove to make any form of dent in Sky’s satellite-based subscription TV dominance?
Virgin Media’s ‘director of digital entertainment’ Scott Kewley summarised: “We are excited to be the home of all this summer’s live sporting action. With even more great sport from Eurosport, we are delivering an unrivalled viewing experience for avid sports fans and the whole family to enjoy.”
