BT Sport signs up half a million in Sky battle

BT says it has signed up more than 500,000 subscribers to its television sports channels ahead of the new football season.

BT Sport is being launched in August as part of the company's plans to compete with Sky and boost revenues.

It has secured the rights to 38 Premier League matches in the coming season, compared with Sky's 116.

The update came as BT reported pre-tax profits of £449m for the three months to June, above analysts' expectations.

BT's chief executive Ian Livingston said the subscriber numbers were promising.

"It is early days but we are very pleased with the strong start in BT Sport. More than half a million households have now ordered BT Sport and that's before the channels have even launched," he said.

Sky Sports does not reveal how many subscribers it has, but it is widely believed to be in the millions.

BT's sports offering is partly designed to prevent customers from defecting to Sky and taking their broadband and telephone accounts with them.

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