BT to ramp up ‘TV Everywhere’ offering to take on Sky
BT is looking to accelerate its development of “TV everywhere” products as it looks to become a “genuine triple-play provider” to take on the likes of Sky and Virgin.
The telecoms company, which is set to launch its first ever TV channels – BT Sport – next month and a 4G proposition later this year, will increase investment in building TV products for web and mobile devices over the coming months.
Iy is looking to hire a senior TV, mobile or digital executive, to become its “head of TV everywhere”. The new recruit will report into Antonia Salmon, general manager for TV product, and will act as a “change agent” to help BT embrace TV fully in order to become a “genuine triple-play provider”, according to a job post on the company’s website.
BT has invested significantly in its TV product set in recent months. It is a stakeholder in the YouView joint venture, which launched last year, and paid £738m to secure the rights to broadcast 38 Premier League football games each season for the next three years – the headline offer of the BT Sports channels package.
Elsewhere, BT has committed a £2.5bn investment in building out its fibre broadband network. It will hope the development of innovative TV products will encourage customers to take up all three of its services, boosting its important average revenue per customer figure.
In BT’s most recently reported quarter to the 31 March, revenue at its Retail division fell 2 per cent year on year to £1.87bn.