TalkSport Radio to broadcast Barclays Premier League coverage
UTV has announced their radio station TalkSport is to broadcast the audio commentary of some weekend Barclays Premier League matches for the next three football seasons, starting with 2013/14.
The deal means that TalkSport will be the exclusive audio rights holders for the Saturday late and Sunday lunchtime matches.
John McCann, Group Chief Executive of UTV Media plc, said: “Investment in sports rights is a key way for us to expand the business, and this latest development will provide a significant step change in terms of listener and advertiser perceptions of the station, as well as strengthening the value for shareholders.”
The station will broadcast between 62 and 66 matches in total each season, with the opportunity to build on the unprecedented increase in audience that Premier League commentary has given the station over the past three years, when it first grabbed these rights from the BBC.
Since TalkSport began broadcasting commentaries on these two timeslots three years ago, its reach in audience has rocketed from 2.5m to 3.0m adults. Now, after establishing 5.30pm on Saturday and 1.30pm on Sunday as appointments to listen on talkSPORT, the next three years will be spent on building on that growth both in audience and in commercial terms.
After securing the Barclays Premier League audio rights outside Europe in 2012, TalkSport has built international studios and now broadcasts every Premier League match live across the world, as well as several key FA Cup and Capital One Cup fixtures.
The station has also invested significantly in UK sports commentary rights this year, with the growing roster now including the FA Cup, England football internationals, Capital One Cup, the Aviva Premiership and also the exclusive UK radio rights to the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in June. There is also the exciting prospect of coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Chief Executive of the station, Scott Taunton, said: “We’re really pleased to have secured these two Barclays Premier League packages, as it puts us in a firm position to build on our past success and drive the business forward.”
