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BT Gets Close to Channel 5 Owner With Daily Express Giveaway

The Daily Express is joining forces with BT to give readers six months free broadband. The campaign launches today through advertising spots on Channel 5 which is owned by Northern & Shell, owner of The Daily Star and Daily Express.

Readers are not only being given broadband access for six months but also free subscriptions to BT Sports 1 and BT Sports 2 through the BT Sports website and app.

The promotion is almost certainly timed to boost the visibility of Channel 5 in the run up to May's deadline by which time owner, Richard Desmond, is hoping to sell the channel for £700m after buying it for £103.5m three and a half years ago.

It is a shrewd move because BT is believed to be a serious bidder for the channel and so it BSkyB. The two companies are competing fiercely for triple play customers with sport, particularly football, rights central to the attraction of each pay TV operator's channel line up.

Media commentators will be left to wonder whether this shows BT is Desmond's preferred bidder for the channel or whether it is simple a move to encourage an improved offer from BSkyB.



Read the whole story at Media Week »

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