Kentaro turns down the BBC’s football highlights bid

The BBC has had its offer for the rights to show the England v Ukraine highlights on Saturday turned down.

It is understood that the corporation made a bid close to the most it has ever offered for highlights of an England international game, but it was still rejected by the agency responsible for the rights.

Kentaro acquired the rights to the match after the pay-TV platform Setanta collapsed earlier this year, and after much discussion, it has decided to show the game live on the internet on a pay-per-view basis.

Earlier this week, ITV’s six-figure bid to show the highlights on terrestrial television was also rejected.  The commercial broadcaster had hoped to broadcast highlights of the England World Cup qualifier after The X Factor on Saturday, but its offer was  also rejected by the media group.

At the time, an ITV source said the amount Kentaro requested for the highlights package was “commercially unviable”.

As a result of Kentaro’s rejections, football fans will have to pay between £9.99 and £11.99 to buy a live pass in order to watch the match at www.ukrainevengland.com.  However, the game, which kicks off at 5.15pm, can also be seen live at Odeon cinemas across the country.

Kentaro is thought to be pleased at the subscription take-up so far and numbers are expected to increase even more so in the build up to the game tomorrow.

The company is rumoured to be waiting to as close to the match as possible before agreeing a highlights deal to achieve high numbers of  subscription sales.

However, Perform, the company appointed to stream tomorrow’s game, has imposed a ceiling of one million subscriptions to guarantee a quality streaming service.

The company said it is positive that it can deliver an “optimal viewing experience”, despite rumours to the contrary.

Last night, Kentaro reached an agreement to broadcast the match on closed TV to the British Forces overseas, which will reach more than 18 countries including Afghanistan and Iraq.

Philipp Grothe, chief executive of Kentaro, said: “We were very conscious that British Forces on operations would not to able to access the match via the internet, but very much wanted them to be able to watch England’s final World Cup qualifier.”