UK News: UFC Velasquez vs Dos Santos to Air on Premier Sports, Virgin Media Customers Lose Out
by KJ Gould on Nov 9, 2011 10:01 AM EST
in UFC News
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Back in August I reported that the ESPN network in the UK -- a premium subscription service that includes live UFC content -- would not be airing the Dan Hardy vs Chris Lytle UFC on Versus card. The reason being ESPN had only contractually agreed to show a certain number of UFC shows per year which included numbered Pay Per View events and Ultimate Fight Nights. Because the UFC's U.S. Versus deal was made after the UFC's U.K. ESPN deal, this additional content would not be included on the ESPN programming schedule which at one point showed the preliminary fights of certain cards as well as a season of The Ultimate Fighter before dropping this coverage.
A last minute deal with another subscription channel 'Premier Sports' to air the UFC event as a Free View show was made, and UK fans were able to watch after all. But only if they were a Sky Television customer.
This weekend Premier Sports is again filling in for ESPN by airing the 'UFC on Fox' event as a Free View broadcast but again Premier Sports is only available through Sky Television.
Similar to the USA where there are multiple cable and satellite providers such as DirecTV and Dish Network, the UK's main providers outside of the commercial and public service network channels consist of Sky Television and Virgin Media with various other smaller companies offering their own services.
Both Sky Television and Virgin Media carry ESPN on subscription, with certain Virgin Media packages including ESPN as a standard sports option. Virgin Media does not at this time carry Premier Sports, and has an approximate customer base of 3.78 million people compared with Sky's 10 million+. Both would be considered low numbers for television carriage in the USA and Canada, but with the smaller UK population (est. 63 million), it's significant.
FX in the UK -- which airs the current season of 'The Ultimate Fighter: Team Mayhem vs Team Bisping' on Thursday nights -- is available on both Sky TV and Virgin Media and it is unknown why a deal wasn't attempted or reached with them so more of the UFC's fanbase could witness Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez attempt his first title defense against No#2 ranked challenger Junior dos Santos. It is possible FX in the UK did not have a gap in their programming schedule or they are simply not geared up for live broadcasts.
UFC has shown its commitment to its UK fan base by getting another deal done with Premier Sports, likely at an expense to themselves by buying air time. But it's still far less than an ideal situation for all involved and it would be interesting to find out what the general opinion of ESPN is among UK UFC fans. The UFC's current deal with ESPN UK ends in August 2012.
After the jump, full schedule and channel listing for the UFC on Premier Sports this weekend.
Premier Sports - Sky Channel 433
Saturday Night, 12th November
12:30am GMT - Free View 'In Depth with Dana White', a half hour interview with the UFC President and American journalist Graham Bensinger.
01:00am GMT - Free View 'UFC Primetime', the 1 hour 24/7 style documentary on Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos that aired on Fox recently and is available through UFC.com.
02:00am GMT - Free View 'Velasquez vs Dos Santos', the main event.
Preliminary fights can be watched via Facebook.com and Foxsports.com
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FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK
You Come At The King, You Best Not Miss
by Our Bovine Public on Nov 9, 2011 10:10 AM EST reply actions
Yep
This is proper shit
"Anyone who enjoys watching sport on television is an imbecile; a dangle-mouthed, cud-chewing, salivating ding-dong with a brain full of dim piss, blobbing out in front of a box watching a grunting thicko knock a ball round a field while their own sad carcass gently coagulates into a wobbling mass of beer and fat and thick white heart-attack gravy" - Charlie Brooker
by Mattyjudo on Nov 9, 2011 10:13 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
It’s also on UFC.com
http://unintelligentdefense.blogspot.com
by MattParker117 on Nov 9, 2011 10:19 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
is the main event being shown or just the prelims?
You Come At The King, You Best Not Miss
by Our Bovine Public on Nov 9, 2011 10:38 AM EST up reply actions
I saw Hardy-Lytle live on there
So probably the ME too
Prelims would be on FB, not UFC.com
by Cunny on Nov 9, 2011 10:46 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
you have to pay a subscription fee for ESPN but yeah
You Come At The King, You Best Not Miss
by Our Bovine Public on Nov 9, 2011 10:34 AM EST up reply actions
After ESPN subscription, Sky subscription (for TUF) and TV license, it actually costs us a lot
Plus, a PPV in the UK isn’t exactly going to do well at 3am, is it?
On top of that, the PPV model just doesn’t work in the UK, whereas it’s something thats been successful Stateside.
by YPG on Nov 9, 2011 10:46 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
this
plus ESPN has stopped showing the spike prelims which also sucks
You Come At The King, You Best Not Miss
by Our Bovine Public on Nov 9, 2011 10:48 AM EST up reply actions
gimme a break... that's like us complaining we have to pay for showtime to see Strike force and those cards are shit most of the time.
and as far as 3am… that’s why you record it and watch it the next day… believe me I’m sure US fans on a budget would rather watch it 3am then pay $45-55 dollars and watch it a few hours earlier…
Sounds like a bunch of spoiled fans bitchin’ to me.
Visit fiveouncesofpain.com
Watching it the next day isn't as good.
Personally, the way I’d like to watch it most is in a bar, but we can’t do that. That way, it’s free and all you have to do is buy a pint or 5. If you’re from the US, you don’t know how lucky you are to have that option.
Strikeforce events are on PPV in the UK
Strikerforce Challengers were shown for a very short while, but now are not. There is no broadcast of Bellator, and there’s nothing similar to HD Net which shows a variety of MMA programming including Japanese shows and K-1 Kickboxing.
Bloody Elbow Grappling Editor.
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You have a point
But we generally don’t do PPVs in general
It’s just not part of our viewing culture; we haven’t been conditioned that way
At most they’ll charge £9.99 for boxing cards with UK talent like 5 times a year
If the UFC started charging US rates for PPVs here they’d have to drop out of the market
Even going the £9.99 route would be tricky, especially times like this when cards are almost weekly
by Cunny on Nov 9, 2011 10:51 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
on the other hand if US fans decided PPV wasn't part of our viewing habits UFC would be belly up and you guys would be shit out of luck any way...
still sounds like a lot of belly aching from fans who get to see the shit for a minimal charge in comparison to their USA counterparts.
Visit fiveouncesofpain.com
But PPV is part of your viewing habits.
For one reason or another, the PPV model is extremely successful in America, and never has been in the UK. The UFC is not the business who would be able to change this in the UK.
The thing is, if you don’t want to pay PPV prices for UFC, there’s an extremely high chance that there’s a bar in your area that you can go to watch UFC, we don’t have that option in the UK. We have 1 option, buy ESPN or don’t watch. Hell, UFC is even in cinemas in the US.
And it starts at 2 in the morning.
Not too many bars or cinemas would broadcast a niche sport til 6 in the morning
by Cunny on Nov 9, 2011 1:21 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
Some probably would
But they would never get the license to stay open that late, or to serve alcohol that late.
by YPG on Nov 9, 2011 1:30 PM EST up reply actions
Here's the issue you're missing with this situation
Unless you’re a Sky customer, you’re not watching ‘UFC on Fox’ on television this weekend. Even if you wanted to. It’d be like if UFC PPVs were dropped from all but one provider and millions of UFC fans not being given the option to purchase.
The point is you’re still able to watch and make a choice. That choice has been taken away from a significant customer base here.
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by KJ Gould on Nov 9, 2011 1:07 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Just like you can decide not to have corporations run the country?
It’s not a decision. That’s just how things are. Just because I decide to buy a PPV (Which I did twice when Strikeforce was on PPV on some bootleg channel) doesn’t change that the rest of the country will shit on it. After 2 events they never tried again.
Don’t bother arguing with culture, it’ll get you nowhere
by Cunny on Nov 9, 2011 1:17 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
So how much does it cost you to watch UFC? Because with my Sky subscription and ESPN subscription I pay just over $155 per month at the current conversion rate to enable me to watch UFC.
Thats $1860 dollars a year to watch UFC – if I had to pay $50 for every pay per view event that would be over $2500 per year assuming 13 PPV’s.
I don’t think it’s spoiled to expect to be able to watch the UFC over 12 months if I’m paying $2500.
Last time UFC was on that channel I recorded it & some of it was lost due to signal problems
So this better not happen again.
This is a shit deal for people with Virgin, and also a shit deal for the casual fan, not many people will know about this.
YOU CUNTS
That’s my opinion
At least it’s on UFC.com
by Cunny on Nov 9, 2011 10:44 AM EST via iPhone app reply actions
ESPN can fuck off! Missing out on a fight involving Dan Hardy is one thing, Velasquez vs Dos Santos is something else. On the phone tomorrow to cancel subscription.
Take it easy, my man
Look at the article again, the ESPN deal was made long before the FOX deal. Next year this won’t happen, I’m sure.
by Cunny on Nov 9, 2011 1:22 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
A fist full of wank, and that's putting it mildly.
BBC, ITV, 4, 5, hell even Dave would make a nice fit (very Spike’y). We have network tv in the UK too you know!!!
UFC make it happen!!
Winter is coming...
The thing is that UFC has a deal with Channel 5
And EVERYONE gets Channel 5. Why put it on a sports channel that no-one knows about, when even people flicking through the schedule would notice if it was on Channel 5.
Exactly YPG. I am wondering how many obscure channels the UFC are going to find to show their events in the UK. With that last card they put on in Birmingham, now their heavyweight title being fought for on a station i’ve never heard of, i’m wondering whether Zuffa have all but given up on the British market. I’m no big fan of womens football or French rugby so ESPN need to be showing EVERY UFC card for me to bother keeping it.
Virgin Media customers can watch it!
According to UFC UK on Twitter, Virgin Media customers can watch the main event on ufc.tv! Just register, sign in, and away you go!
The 3.78 vs 10 million figure
Sounds like it is “homes” not “people.” That would make those numbers make way more sense.
Head conductor of the Charles Oliveira hype train.
Subscribers
I wrote people, but should have written subscribers for accuracy. Which I suppose you can equate to homes.
Bloody Elbow Grappling Editor.
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In response to YPG...
Channel 5 would never show a current UFC card. They only showed Nog vs Davis this week! I’m assuming they don’t pay full price subscription rights or something and therefore can only show cards a few months after they happen, so it was probably never considered as an option.
This is a pretty bad move though by both the UFC and ESPN UK. You would have thought ESPN would have wanted the program, and failing that, I’ve would’ve at least assumed that UFC would have gone for a more high-profile channel than premier whatever, what other sports do they even carry?
Who cares… we can watch for free on the internet (only joking Dana)
To be perfectly honest, I really can’t complain with the job ESPN does in providing us with UFC events. I probably get to see more PPV events over here, than someone in America can. I watch ESPN and Sky Sports primarily for Premiership and Scottish Premier League matches, thus, the UFC is an amazing extra. Plus, the picture you get on ESPNHD is simply amazing. The market for UFC on PPV over here, would be so small, they make more money by doing deals with ESPN or SKY.
Good service, shame about the time it airs, but, I always associate big ‘fight nights’ from boxing as a night you stay up really late, get drunk and enjoy!
Main problem with it being on Primetime is you can’t record it, therefore anyone out on Saturday, is screwed
It's on Premier Sports
Can you record Premier Sports?
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Im With Virgin..so im screwed
Great article KJ, Us Brits are very concerned about this ESPN deal that is ending in 2012, and it leaves us( the people who dont buy into sky tv) in a dark , lonely hole..but you shed some light on the situation and cheers for that…the sky’ monopoly continues!
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