-- Subscribe to PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE and catch all the German
Bundesliga games for Euro 14.90 at the start of the new season
-- New rates and offerings from August 1, 2005
-- Kofler: "Going forward, live soccer will be seen as an attractive
product in its own right."
MUNICH, Germany, June 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- To kick off the 2005/2006 German Bundesliga season, Premiere will be offering a special live soccer subscription starting on August 1. PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE costs Euro 14.90 per month and can be combined with any standard Premiere subscription (e.g. PREMIERE THEMA, PREMIERE SPORT, PREMIERE FILM). PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE is central to a new range of sport subscriptions that provide better value and greater flexibility.
Dr. Georg Kofler, CEO of Premiere AG, affirms: "PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE is a ticket for spectators who can't make it to the stadium in person or just prefer to view the action from the comfort of their homes. This new offering will ensure that live soccer will be seen as an attractive product in its own right, both in the eyes of viewers and TV rights partners. Our aim with this new line of subscriptions is to increase transparency, flexibility and price value."
Premiere's new range of sports subscriptions: an up-to-date look, more content and separate prices
-- A new sports portal--a window to a world of offerings
-- Standard subscription to PREMIERE SPORT starting at
Euro 19.90.
-- PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE as a supplementary subscription
for Euro 14.90.
-- Increased flexibility: Euro 5 day pass to the complete
range of sports offers.
PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE is the key component in Premiere's improved subscription structure, bringing subscribers differentiated sports viewing via the new Premiere sports portal. Since June 4, Premiere has been showing up to 15 sporting events simultaneously--a record for German television. With the modern picture-in-picture format, Premiere provides spectators with a clear overview of all sports programming currently being broadcast. All Premiere subscribers can access the sports portal. A simple color-coded system starting August 1, shows the subscription required for a given sports channel. The new Euro 5 day pass enables you to watch the entire spectrum of sports programming for 24 hours.
2,600 hours of live, non-stop action per year with PREMIERE SPORT
The new standard PREMIERE SPORT subscription will be available for Euro 19.90 a month. PREMIERE SPORT provides a total of 2,600 hours of live programming per year, including the complete, live coverage of all Formula 1 races with bonuses such as selectable camera angles and commercial-free broadcasts. The benefits of live and exclusive viewing mean that subscribers experience games as they happen: a Saturday game of the first division Bundesliga, a Sunday game of the second division Bundesliga, plus the top matches in the German ice hockey and basketball leagues. PREMIERE SPORT subscribers also get live viewing of around 100 major golf tournaments. What's more, Premiere brings you the big games from all the major U.S. sports leagues--the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB--to an ever-increasing fan base in Germany and Austria. The comprehensive range of live coverage is further enhanced by in-depth highlight programs and extensive repeats. Highlights include the Bundesliga show "Alle Spiele, Alle Tore" (All the games, All the goals) aired Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, which provides a compact overview of the action in both Bundesliga divisions as well as full-length replays of Bundesliga games. "See more and miss less" is the motto behind it all as Premiere's sports portal increases subscriber enjoyment by offering a wider choice.
PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE: The biggest season ticket in the world--and it includes the World Cup!
Premiere is also setting new standards in live soccer coverage. A world record was set in 2005 with more than 1,100 live games being broadcast. Starting on August 1, all the excitement of live soccer can be yours with a supplementary subscription for Euro 14.90 per month. PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE brings you all first and second division Bundesliga games as they're happening--individually and in the award-winning Premiere live highlights 'conference' format. New to the line-up is the Premiere League Cup brought to you live and exclusively by Premiere until 2007. Premiere is also on the ball when it comes to the international soccer, presenting all 125 UEFA Champions League games, live world class soccer from the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, and the Spanish Primera Division. You'll also be able to see all the games of the two Austrian professional leagues (the T-Mobile Austrian Bundesliga and the Red Zac Erste Liga) as well as the pick of the World Cup qualifying games.
And the World Cup is also part of the package. With PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE, subscribers can already start getting excited about the 2006 FIFA Soccer World Cup in Germany. Premiere is the only broadcaster that will be showing all 64 World Cup matches live, while also providing live highlight 'conference' coverage of matches played at the same time. As a special service for our viewers who can't be there live or simply just can't get enough, Premiere will be setting up its very own 24-hour-a-day World Cup channel with round-the-clock analysis, highlights and replays. Premiere has also secured the exclusive rights for the repeat broadcast of all the games. The World Cup on Premiere: We've got it all--and more!
The new supplementary PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE subscription can be combined with any standard subscription (e.g. PREMIERE THEMA, PREMIERE SPORT, PREMIERE FILM). In addition, PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE is included in the price of PREMIERE KOMPLETT.
Whatever you're in the mood for: the Euro 5 day pass is your ticket to all sport
Want to see all sports without a sports package subscription? Premiere can make it happen. As of August 1, all Premiere subscribers can enjoy the complete line-up of sports programming (PREMIERE SPORT and PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE) for just Euro 5 a day. Access all the sports portal has to offer. Minimum requirement to order the Euro 5 daily pass is the starter subscription PREMIERE START.
Goals of the new price and offer strategy in the world of sports:
-- Differentiated offers for a wide variety of sports tastes
and fans.
-- Fair, flexible rates based on actual viewing.
-- Moving to prices that are comparable with other European
pay TV operators.
Dr. Georg Kofler on the new offering strategy for sports: "Premiere's new line of offerings caters for a wide variety of sports tastes and fans. A season ticket valid for 1,000 games and the 2006 World Cup, PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE is the ideal package for soccer fans who want to experience all the action up close and personal. PREMIERE SPORT is the affordable way to get started in Premiere's wide world of sports, taking you straight to Formula 1, golf, basketball, ice hockey and American sports. The offer is targeted primarily at sports fans for whom live soccer isn't necessarily an absolute priority. Our new day pass offers particular flexibility, providing complete access to all of Premiere's sports programming for Euro 5. It's ideal for viewers who are interested in specific sporting events, but chose Premiere for its film and special interest channels. The new subscription range therefore also gets new target audiences interested in sports on Premiere."
Premiere places service and fair pricing at the fore with its differentiated sports packages. Currently, Premiere spends 25% of its approximately one billion euros annual revenues, on live soccer broadcasting. That's more than 80 percent of the entire sports budget. Kofler: "Soccer, our premium program, finally gets the recognition it deserves with PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE. Viewer numbers, price analyses, and additional surveys indicate that it's well worth the price. We are approaching the price structures of similar European pay TV operators, but Premiere subscribers still pay much less for full-coverage live soccer." In the U.K., the rate for a pay TV subscription with a comprehensive selection of live soccer costs approximately 48 euro; in Italy, the price is 47 euro. The soccer programming in these countries is considerably more limited than that of Germany's Premiere. Kofler: "In terms of value for money, Premiere will continue to offer the most attractive soccer package in Europe in the future."
Kofler: "A transparent business model for the partnership between soccer and television."
Premiere has also increased fairness and transparency with regard to its rights partners. PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE is a striking illustration of the contribution Premiere subscribers are making to the development of German soccer. Kofler: "As it stands, Premiere is already German professional soccer's greatest financial backer. Pay TV is the only TV business model that can bring more money to the Bundesliga over time. And Premiere is the only pay TV provider in Germany that fully explores this model's potential. Premiere literally already has a stadium that can seat nine million people, and soon it will be ten million. We thus sell 'match tickets' to millions of people who can't make it to the stadium or prefer to watch the games at home. A fair amount of this income goes directly to the national league and its associations. It's the most modern and transparent business model of a partnership between soccer and television. The new format enables Premiere and its subscribers to help get German soccer back among the major players in the world of European soccer."
Premiere's restructured offer launching on August 1 also includes:
-- PREMIERE PLUS changed to PREMIERE THEMA;
-- Despite additional PREMIERE KOMPLETT content, price
remains the same;
-- Clearly positions PREMIERE START as a limited trial
subscription.
Premiere doesn't just offer increased exclusivity in sports. For the past 15 months, Premiere subscription television has been making headway in special interest programming. Four new channels have been added. In addition to the music station HIT24, the three documentary and info networks ANIMAL PLANET, DISCOVERY GESCHICHTE and FOCUS GESUNDHEIT have joined the Premiere line-up, sharpening its profile in a genre that has been enjoying a recent spate of popularity. "With these new stations, we've enhanced and expanded our range of special interest programming," Kofler said. More than a mere supplement to our selection of film and sports programming, our theme channels are a world of programming in themselves. The supplementary package PREMIERE PLUS will therefore be restructured as the standard subscription package PREMIERE THEMA." Starting at Euro 19.90 per month (incl. PREMIERE START), PREMIERE THEMA comprises 16 TV channels and 21 digital audio programs. In conjunction with the other two standard subscriptions, PREMIERE FILM and PREMIERE SPORT, PREMIERE THEMA is available as an add-on package for a reduced rate of Euro 9.90.
PREMIERE FILM also now offers viewers more choice. Above and beyond the 300 films broadcast annually, more and more TV series have been celebrating their launch on PREMIERE FILM. On any given day, 100 films play in seven virtual cinemas--not cut or edited for TV, without commercial interruptions, in Dolby Digital and often available in the original language as an extra option. This premium subscription is topped off by the DISNEY CHANNEL, the greatest name in family entertainment and perfect for PREMIERE FILM's target audience. Available as of August 1, PREMIERE FILM starts at Euro 24.90 per month (incl. PREMIERE START).
If price advantage is what you're looking for, PREMIERE KOMPLETT offers significant savings over various individual packages, giving viewers increased content at no extra charge. Starting at Euro 43 per month PREMIERE KOMPLETT provides everything that Premiere has to offer: 26 TV stations, a sports portal with up to 15 sports channels, pure music on 21 digital audio stations, and the 14 day TV listings magazine, TV DIGITAL, the indispensable guide to all of Premiere's programming and 42 further TV stations.
Also available is PREMIERE START. As an individual package PREMIERE START can be subscribed to for a 12-month period; after that, it is only available in combination with the three standard subscriptions or with PREMIERE KOMPLETT. The PREMIERE START subscription is thus clearly positioned as the sampler offer of Premiere's selection.
Kofler: "The new subscription range is differentiated, balanced and fairly priced. PREMIERE THEMA, PREMIERE FILM and PREMIERE SPORT are three of the most affordable standard subscriptions on offer in premium television. PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE is a special offer of the highest caliber. And PREMIERE KOMPLETT is on its way to providing a great price advantage in addition to its other attractive features. Finally, individual options like the Euro 5 day pass to the PREMIERE sports portal offer viewers more flexibility than ever before."
The introduction of the new line of offers has clear advantages for existing customers:
-- Price and service guarantee until the end of the respective
minimum contract period.
-- Comprehensive and direct information guaranteed for all
affected subscribers.
Fair play and transparency set the tone of Premiere's new range of subscriptions. The new prices and services will apply to all subscriptions closed from August 1, 2005, onwards. Existing subscriptions are not subject to changes prior to the end of their respective minimum contractual periods (12 or 24 months respectively). Today's PREMIERE SPORT subscribers will receive the new PREMIERE SPORT and PREMIERE FUSSBALL LIVE for the guaranteed period of contract. All subscribers who are affected will receive individual notification in good time before the minimum period of contract expires and information of upcoming offers. The rolling procedure guarantees a fair and smooth transition to the new subscription price structure.
Just 359 days until the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Premiere brings you all 64 games live. Premiere--the maximum World Cup!
This press release can be found on the Internet at info.premiere.de.