BT TV customers with the firm’s older black Vision+ boxes will have access to Sky Sports 5 when it launches tomorrow (12th August).
The new channel is the home of Sky’s European football coverage including La Liga, Coppa Italia and Copa del Rey.
Its inclusion on the BT TV platform will mark the first time BT has offered more than the Sky Sports 1 and 2 channels which the satellite giant is required to offer to rival services under a disputed Ofcom ruling.
A posting on BT’s support forums confirms the channel will be available “for no additional cost” to customers who already receive Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 over BT’s Infinity broadband.
Customers who subscribe to just Sky Sports 1 or Sky Sports 2 will get Sky Sports 5 for no additional cost when they upgrade to take both channels for £21 a month.
Those who receive both Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 over copper broadband will also get Sky Sports 5, but will have to wait until September 5th.
BT is unable to offer Sky Sports to users of its newer YouView boxes because of the long-running dispute over the validity Ofcom’s decision to mandate the supply of the channels to rival platforms.
That ruling was struck down by the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) in 2012 following an appeal by Sky. In February CAT’s decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal which ordered the tribunal to reconsider its findings.
The tribunal heard arguments from both sides last month but isn’t expected to issue a ruling until September.
Efforts to reach a commercial agreement to carry Sky Sports on BT’s YouView service are understood to have failed due to the ISP’s refusal to wholesale its own sports channels to Sky rather than retail them directly to its competitor’s customers.
