ADMC to broadcast Premier League matches online

NEW MOVE: ADMC will broadcast EPL matches online from the start of next season.

Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) has revealed it will broadcast English Premier League matches over the internet from the start of next season.

According to a report in the National on Thursday, the broadcaster said it will not resell its rights to a pay TV broadcaster or sublicence them to a terrestrial channel as expected.

Instead it will offer the matches over broadband internet in the Middle East and North Africa region.

“Broadband is growing. Etisalat and du are taking broadband to people’s homes. Why don’t you just distribute football games online at zero cost? Well, that’s what we intend to do,” said Edward Borgerding, the chief executive of ADMC, cited by the paper.

ADMC won a three year contract for exclusive regional rights to broadcast the EPL last year, taking it from Orbit Showtime, now known as OSN, which had had the package for sometime.

ADMC’s television offering is made up of free-to-air satellite channels which are restricted from broadcasting EPL games, so it was assumed by some media commentators that the firm would seek a partnership with a paid-for TV operator.

Under the move, viewers will pay a $15 (AED55) monthly fee for the rights to stream games through online video, the paper reported.

“This is something that we are going to try to drive into the marketplace in the Middle East now,” Borgerding said.

“We are going to price it differentially, because it’s cheaper to do it online. We want to drive people to do this because it’s in our self interest to do this.”

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READERS' COMMENTS

R u guys planning to broadcast this in qatar ???????
Posted by fahd, doha, qatar on Thursday 15 July 2010 at 09:56 UAE time
Edited by ArabianBusiness.com

So just like opportunists 'Al Jazeera' .... our Abudhabi counterparts have decided on making hay while the sun shines ... and we all know how well the internet streaming is gonna work ... plzzz ..... sell it to ppl who know how to broadcast events like these ..... Al jazeera was beyond pathetic with their world cup broadcasting after forcing all their viewers to pay and forcing a one year contract on all........ its just weird that in a football crazy region of the world like the middle east its just so hard and confusing to get the rite service provider for these events on the rite time, whereas in other parts of the world where football isnt so crazy like India for instance its broadcasted so well through ESPN Star sports for the last 10 - 15 years, and that includes the Spanish league and the champions league...... I call up Qtel Mozaic customer service and to no one's surprise none of those incompetent idiots even even know wat abudhabi sports package is ....but im also sure u guys are yet to come to an agreement with Qtel Mozaic to have this service. The EPL is less than a month away and im not even sure il be able to enjoy it ... and this is the place where they are trying to bring the FIFA world cup .

Bye Bye EPL
Posted by Ada, Dubai on Saturday 6 March 2010 at 11:34 UAE time


So for a 4M connection it costs $120 per month so thats $135 per month to still almost certainly not, get the speed required at the time required.
Scudamore step in if you value your reputation

what a load of coconuts
Posted by john, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 4 February 2010 at 14:39 UAE time


Etisalat and Du taking broadband to peoples homes in the UAE. What about the rest of the region that they have won rights for. KSA (the largest market in the Gulf) or Egypt and the whole of north africa. Interesting that the short sightedness of media professionals in the region is totally unnoticed. Where do they get these losers from? Come on Abu Dhabi. Sell it to OSN or someone else so that everyone can enjoy the games. Broadband connections in the region are pants, a little early. The guy who tried this for the last England match of the Euro qualifiers failed miserably and thats in a country where broadband connections are quite good.

Joke
Posted by Furqan, Sharjah on Thursday 4 February 2010 at 12:52 UAE time


People with a better knowledge and awareness on the internet know that with even a connection of 1mb and above they can watch live streaming, better than average quality sports online for free. The catch is they just need to know where to look. Ive been viewing sports live online for more than a yr now and its better than I initially expected.
I wouldn't pay a dime for such services.
Whose in charge of these decisions?
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

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