The BT TV division of telecommunications company BT attracted more than 100,000 new subscribers in the three months through to the end of September, ahead of the start of pay-television broadcaster BT Sport’s coverage of football’s Uefa Champions League.
The 106,000 new subscribers compares to 38,000 in the corresponding period last year and 60,000 in the previous three months this year.
BT chief executive Gavin Patterson said that acquiring Champions League and Europa League rights had provided a bigger boost than expected. BT has exclusive UK rights for both competitions in a three-season deal, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, worth £897m (€1.25bn/$1.38bn) over the period.
BT TV’s pre-tax profit in the second quarter of 2015 was £642m on a reported basis, up 13 per cent.