Sunset+Vine land £100m contract to produce new BT sports channels
Television production firm Sunset+Vine has seen off bidders from ITV Studios and IMG to win a £100m contract to produce a series of new sports channels for BT.
The telecoms firm is seeking to deliver live coverage of the Premier League and Premiership rugby union from next summer, necessitating that it draw up the second most valuable production contracts for independent producers to be seen recently – eclipsed only by Endemol’s commission from Five to screen Big Brother.
Sunset + Vine was one of the smaller firms to bid for the contract and had been seen as an outsider, but it has experience in the sports sector, most recently by producing channel 4’s coverage of the London Paralympic Games.
Jeff Foulser, chief executive of Tinopolis, Sunset+Vine’s parent group, said: “BT liked our ideas. We can now put our creative talents into delivering top class and innovative coverage for BT Sports’ major rights acquisitions."
BT has splurged £1bn acquiring the rights to Premier League football this summer, mounting a direct challenge to rival pay-TV operator BSkyB.