WHY IS BT SPORT CHANGING TO TNT SPORTS?
WHEN DOES BT BECOME TNT?
BT Sport will transform into TNT Sports on Tuesday (July 18).
WHAT’S GOING ON?
BT is rebranding its sports offering under the TNT Sports name. It follows the merger of BT Sport with Warner Bros Discovery. The company runs various channels under the Discovery brand and also owns the Eurosport channels.
WILL ANYTHING BE DIFFERENT ON THE CHANNELS?
No, effectively this is just a rebrand of BT Sport’s channels to TNT Sports bringing it under the TNT name which is used by Warner Bros in America and other countries. The rights which are held by the new TNT channels are the ones BT had, so TNT will have the Saturday 12.30pm Premier League games and the Champions League just as BT did, but now badged TNT and with a new graphics and branding suite. The Eurosport channels will remain under that name for now, but will change to TNT eventually.
WHAT ABOUT THE BT SPORT APP?
This is probably the biggest change. The BT Sport app will end and the TNT channels with be found under the Discovery+ app and streaming service. It’s not clear yet whether there will be some crossover where both apps will continue at once for a time. If you already subscribe to BT Sport and watch via Sky or other platforms like BT TV or Virgin, the channels will be there in the usual way but just with a new name.
WILL IT COST MORE?
No changes in pricing details have been confirmed so it’s not clear yet, but there’s likely to be more details from launch date.
SO IT’S JUST A NAME CHANGE REALLY THEN?
Pretty much at the moment, although going forward it might be a significant merger. Having the might of Eurosport and TNT Sports together could prove the most serious challenge to Sky Sports’ dominant position. BT Sport – and others before it such as Setanta Sports and the UK version of ESPN – have largely been seen as secondary to Sky’s offering, but the new combination could really give Sky a run for its money in challenging for major live football and sports rights. It will be interesting to see if TNT’s approach to Premier League and Champions League football coverage will be markedly different. There are signs it could be with BT ever-present pitch side reporter Des Kelly departing, BT Sport Score axed and the highly-rated Laura Woods hotly tipped to take over as the main Champions League host for TNT.