The one game all television executives want to play is football rights. News that BSkyB is to pay 1.1bn for the rights to continue to show 66 live Premier League football games comes as no surprise. Its live sports coverage has driven the growth of its subscriber base and some analysts fear its business could crumble if it lost these rights.
More television companies hope to repeat BSkyB's trick of boosting subscribers through sport.
With the proliferation of new television channels as a result of digital technology, the battle is heating up to give viewers a reason to subscribe. For many, sport is the answer. Other contenders for the rights included ONdigital, the digitial terrestrial television joint venture owned by Granada and Carlton, plus Pearson and Telewest. The current shape of TV football coverage was largely forged in 1992, when Sky won the right to broadcast Premier League matches live for five years. NTL's gamble is that it can repeat BSkyB's success.