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| BT Sport signs up half a million in Sky battle | BT Sport signs up half a million in Sky battle |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| BT says it has signed up more than 500,000 subscribers to its television sports channels ahead of the new football season. | BT says it has signed up more than 500,000 subscribers to its television sports channels ahead of the new football season. |
| BT Sport is being launched in August as part of the company's plans to compete with Sky and boost revenues. | BT Sport is being launched in August as part of the company's plans to compete with Sky and boost revenues. |
| It has secured the rights to 38 Premier League matches in the coming season, compared with Sky's 116. | It has secured the rights to 38 Premier League matches in the coming season, compared with Sky's 116. |
| The update came as BT reported pre-tax profits of £449m for the three months to June, above analysts' expectations. | The update came as BT reported pre-tax profits of £449m for the three months to June, above analysts' expectations. |
| BT's chief executive Ian Livingston said the subscriber numbers were promising. | BT's chief executive Ian Livingston said the subscriber numbers were promising. |
| "It is early days but we are very pleased with the strong start in BT Sport. More than half a million households have now ordered BT Sport and that's before the channels have even launched," he said. | "It is early days but we are very pleased with the strong start in BT Sport. More than half a million households have now ordered BT Sport and that's before the channels have even launched," he said. |
| However, BT admitted that the vast majority of the subscribers were existing customers who had received the channels for free after renewing their broadband contracts. | |
| When these are stripped out, BT added just 23,000 new subscribers. | |
| "We expect the proportion of new customers to increase after we launch the channels on 1 August," BT said. | |
| 'Fraction of Sky' | |
| Sky Sports does not reveal how many subscribers it has, but it is widely believed to be in the millions. | Sky Sports does not reveal how many subscribers it has, but it is widely believed to be in the millions. |
| BT's sports offering is partly designed to prevent customers from defecting to Sky and taking their broadband and telephone accounts with them. | BT's sports offering is partly designed to prevent customers from defecting to Sky and taking their broadband and telephone accounts with them. |
| "The numbers quoted are but a fraction of BSkyB's penetration," said Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers. | |
| But he said BT's broader performance was cause for optimism. | |
| "As the company has reinvented itself, it has become a more modern, streamlined and focused entity whose prospects remain tantalising. | |
| "In particular, BT's retail division, broadband and fibre network are contributing strongly, the company's ability to generate profit whilst keeping an eye on cost efficiency is improving." | |
| BT's other major investment alongside television is in fibre-optic broadband. | |
| It said it added 197,000 retail fibre broadband customers in the quarter, increasing its customer base by about 30% to 1.5 million. |