Premiere, the German films, sports and porn Pay TV operator, says it will launch a complete betting channel in the fall.
The announcement comes four months after Premiere Austria and Austria-based Betandwin Group went public with an exclusive agreement through which the latter will provide live wagering services to the latter. Premiere's Austrian subscribers can now wager on any soccer game live using Betandwin's mobile betting platform.
The prospect of a German venture was brought to light in February when the Austrian partnership was announced.
The new German service will be called "Premiere Win," and according to Premiere spokesman Stefan Vollmer, a channel has already been reserved for it.
The company hasn't stated whether it will again partner with Betandwin, which holds a betting license in Germany. Vollmer said they are "still negotiating with several partners."
Premiere, a wholly owned subsidiary of Premiere Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, is the first and only television company in Germany to broadcast its programs exclusively in digital mode. Its subscriber base of 9 million viewers in around 3.3 million households can watch 26 TV channels, a sports portal with up to 15 sports channels and 21 digital audio programs.
The sports portal, Premiere Sport, broadcasts roughly 4,800 hours of live TV per year, including the following programming:
- all German football league games and the UEFA Champions League, both individually and as part of a conference link-up;
- German second-league football;
- the qualification games for the 2006 World Cup in Germany;
- all games of the Confederations Cup 2005;
- all 64 games of the World Cup 2006 in Germany;
- all Formula One races;
- the Premiere-Ligapokal with the top teams of the German Bundesliga;
- international football with several European top leagues;
- ice hockey;
- Basketball Bundesliga;
- golf;
- American sports;
- boxing/fighting sports; and
- a 24-hour-information-channel with the latest news in sports.
In one sentence: A seeding field for sports betting!