Singapore pay-television broadcaster StarHub has entered talks with the English Premier League about rights for the three seasons from 2013-14 to 2015-16, according to the Goal.com news website.
Rival pay-television operator SingTel acquired non-exclusive rights for the same three-year period in October 2012.
SingTel and StarHub are barred from acquiring exclusive sports rights by local broadcast regulations. The so-called ‘cross-carriage regulations’ were introduced by the Singapore government in 2010 to counter spiralling sports rights fees.
StarHub is unhappy about an exclusive negotiation period given by the Premier League to SingTel which meant that StarHub had to wait about five months to begin talks with the league.
“We are finally able to open negotiations with the Premier League this week, five months after the non-exclusive broadcast rights for Singapore were first announced by another pay-TV operator,” Jeannie Ong, StarHub’s head of corporate communications and investor relations, told Goal.com. “We are seeking clarification from Premier League on the rights available for us to acquire.”