By Mark Baber
January 25 – BSkyB has renewed its UK Long-Form Linear broadcast rights for all Barclays Premier League matches not broadcast live (226 per season) for seasons 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015/16.
This package allows Sky to make available delayed long-form coverage of 226 Barclays Premier League matches per season.
Richard Scudamore Premier League chief executive, said: “We are extremely pleased that BSkyB has again chosen to invest in our UK Long-Form linear broadcast rights. These rights make available delayed long-form coverage of all Barclays Premier League matches not broadcast live and are an important part of our overall rights offering.
“Sky Sports has, for several seasons, used them to great effect with the successful ‘Football First’ programme that will continue to make available the best Barclays Premier League action to fans across the country.”
Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “This is fantastic news for Sky Sports viewers who will continue to enjoy unrivalled coverage of the Barclays Premier League on TV and wherever they are with Sky Go.
“We’ll give fans the first chance to see extended highlights of all the matches every Saturday, as well as the key moments throughout the week. Add these rights to our 116 live matches from next season, which include MNF and Super Sunday double-headers, and Sky Sports truly remains the home of the Barclays Premier League.”
Last June, BSkyB secured the live match packages totalling 116 matches with their dominance only being challenged by BT who secured packages totalling 38 matches. ESPN who had previously held a Premier League live rights package left the bidding empty handed.
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