German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom has agreed a carriage deal to show pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland’s coverage of the Bundesliga, the top two divisions of football in the country.
The agreement will run for the duration of Sky’s four-year rights deal to show the Bundesliga, from 2013-14 to 2016-17.
Telekom will be able to carry Sky’s Bundesliga programming, as well as the Sky Sport channel’s coverage of other football events such as the DFB-Pokal domestic German cup competition and the Uefa Champions League and Europa League, on its IPTV platform Entertain.
The carriage deal also includes a number of Sky’s other non-sporting channels.
Telekom’s Entertain platform currently shows coverage of the Bundesliga via the ‘Liga Total’ package as part of a five-year deal, from 2008-09 to 2012-13. Telekom was ousted by Sky as the Bundesliga’s IPTV rights-holder in the next cycle of rights in a sales process that concluded last April.
“The agreement ensures those already watching the Bundesliga on the Telekom Entertain platform can continue to do so uninterrupted, and will also open up the full range of Sky’s award-winning sport coverage, including all live matches of the Uefa Champions League, Uefa Europa League and the DFB-Pokal,” Sky Deutschland chief executive Brian Sullivan said. “In addition, with the introduction of the complete Sky offering Entertain customers will be able to experience Sky’s market leading Sky Film, Sky Welt and Sky HD offerings for the first time.”