Fortune Favours The Brave

It looks like BT's big gamble by moving into sports TV is paying off with the company turning in good quarterly profits and benefiting from a real upswing in its broadband customer base.

Just like Netflix's bet on original programming, fortune favours the brave. or at least it seems to do so.

In reality, the winners from such big gambles are few and far between. Microsoft, Cisco and Intel have all made plays for the box in the living room with varying degrees of success: all have lost their shirts in the exercise (thankfully for them they have a pretty stacked wardrobe). But these were all technology-lead plays.

Content-lead initiatives seem to be a bit more successful as HBO, AMC and ITV can attest.

The reality remains that the technology is incidental to the content; it just has to work and rarely provides any benefit these days with ubiquitous services, catch up, cloud recording and failed second screen and app initiatives.

The brave investment is in top end programming and sports.

I tip my hat to the team at BT Broadcast for taking it to Sky.