Singtel retains Premier League broadcast rights until May 2022

SINGTEL has picked up the broadcast rights for football's Premier League for another three years with a rights deal from August 2019 to May 2022, it announced on Thursday.

Yuen Kuan Moon, chief executive officer for the Singapore consumer business, said in a statement: "Fans can be assured Premier League coverage remains affordable as we will keep prices unchanged."

But a spokesperson for Singtel clarified, when contacted, that the commitment to unchanged prices refers only to the coming season, and may not necessarily apply to all three years.

The Premier League matches will also be available on Singtel's over-the-top service, Cast, which can stream content to mobile devices and smart television sets without a set-top box.

Other football options on Singtel TV include the Uefa Champions League and the FA Cup.

Operating revenue for residential pay-television in Singapore rose to S$66 million for the three months to Sept 30, up by 11.5 per cent on the year before, which the group attributed in its second-quarter management discussion documents to contributions from the 2018 Fifa World Cup in July.

Pay-TV's performance fuelled revenue growth in the consumer home services segment, which grew by 3.6 per cent year on year despite flattish fixed broadband turnover and a 6.8 per cent decline in voice.

Still, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) slipped, on lower contributions from higher-margin legacy carriage services and the absence of Premier League sub-licence revenue.

Singtel closed up by S$0.02, or 0.65 per cent, to S$3.10, before the announcement.