Arqiva, the UK communications infrastructure and media services company, has announced an extension of its partnership with Premier Sports to launch LaLigaTV HD on the Sky platform.
The launch brings 24/7 coverage of Spain’s top football league to a dedicated channel in the UK for the first time, ensuring its exclusive matches and programmes will be enjoyed by Sky UK viewers until at least the end of La Liga’s 2021/2022 season.
Available as part of a subscription service on the Sky platform, or as a standalone subscription, LaLiga TV will also show selected match content and a weekly La Liga Highlights programme free-to-air on the FreeSports channel. The launch also makes La Liga the first football league in the world to have all its matches shown live on a 24/7 dedicated channel in the UK – subject to UK blackout restrictions at 3pm on Saturdays.
Arqiva will provide uplinking and satellite capacity to deliver the LaLigaTV HD channel. Content will be received at Arqiva’s award-winning teleport at Chalfont before being delivered to another teleport at Crawley for uplink to the Sky platform.
The deal marks the latest milestone in a long-standing relationship between the two companies, which began with the launch of the FreeSports channel in 2017. With proven expertise in delivering high quality broadcast solutions, Arqiva was selected by Premier Sports as part of a broader drive to increase its portfolio of sports brands, reach new audiences across multiple platforms and capitalise on the demand for frictionless live sports coverage.
Richard Sweeney, CEO at Premier Sports, said, “The launch of the new LaLigaTV HD channel represents an important step in our journey to bring seamless live sports coverage to UK viewers, and it is therefore crucial that we have a trusted partner like Arqiva working alongside us on the project. We’re dedicated to improving and diversifying our HD channel offering, and we’re pleased to be able to bring top-flight Spanish football to a huge audience.”
Alex Pannell, Commercial Director, Video & Data, Media Networks at Arqiva, said, “Delivering HD channels to the Sky platform is a particular expertise of ours so we’re delighted that we can support Premier Sports with its next phase of growth. Having supported Premier Sports’ high value channels for a number of years we are excited to see where the launch of LaLiga TV HD can take the brand.
“Enhancing the viewing experience and expanding channel coverage is always front of mind for our customers, and we pride ourselves on helping them achieve this by ensuring service excellence and extensive client support.”
