bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Hong Kong Cable Television had bid close to $800 million to secure exclusive Hong Kong broadcast rights for the next three seasons of English Premier League (EPL) football, according to a source close to the bidding process.
Hong Kong's No?1 pay-television operator beat PCCW's NOW Broadband TV and ESPN Star Sports to the rights, seen as a key driver of subscriptions, but has bid almost four times i-Cable Communications' estimated earnings for last year.
According to sources, ESPN Star offered to pay Sportfive, the EPL's official television rights partner, more than $450 million for the rights.
'The price was being pushed up as NOW [Broadband TV] was desperate for the rights as it lacks sport content to drive subscriber growth,' a market source said.
A PCCW spokeswoman said the company was subject to a confidentiality agreement, but added: 'We have put in a strong bid and continue to be very interested and are waiting to see the final outcome of the auction.'
Admitting that live football was a vital ingredient to successful Hong Kong programming, she said it was not a make-or-break situation for PCCW. 'We have 35 channels and have built up a customer base of 400,000.'
It is understood that the contract with the EPL is subject to a 30-day verification process requiring both parties to make good on their commitments.
Both ESPN Star and Cable TV declined to comment on the  rights. 
Cable TV does not have exclusive rights to EPL matches this season but carries the content through ESPN Star, which is available to its 656,000 subscribers. ESPN Star's loss of Hong Kong rights will also deprive Star TV subscribers of EPL coverage.
Industry watchers expect Cable TV, a subsidiary of i-Cable Communications, to offer live EPL matches and highlights packages from the start of the new season in August, as well as pre- and post-game analysis provided by Sportfive. It will air the programmes in Chinese and English.  
Analysts said securing the EPL rights would complement i-Cable's sports focus. 'People might still subscribe to i-Cable if it didn't have EPL, but things will be easier as i-Cable can now claim to have all the broadcasting rights of the four leading leagues,' Kim Eng Securities analyst Jimmy Lam said.
Cable TV also has the rights for the Spanish Premier League, Italian Serie A and the German League.
 The attraction of the major football leagues has been enhanced this season with the launch of soccer betting in Hong Kong.
Cable TV's rivals, Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting and NOW Broadband TV, mainly target family audiences and have comparatively weak sports offerings.
However, Core Pacific-Yamaichi analyst Mona Chung said the acquisition of EPL broadcasting rights might hurt i-Cable, especially if it came at an unreasonably high price.
'A high cost might increase the production costs of i-Cable and thus add pressure to its bottom line,' she said.
Analysts earlier estimated i-Cable would spend about $700 million on programme production this year, compared with $650 million last year and $700 million in 2002, when the broadcaster spent $100 million promoting its coverage of the World Cup finals.



Cable TV wins EPL soccer rights