10.15am, Wednesday 5 February 2025

ON-THE-PITCH DRAMA MEETS BOX-SET DRAMA

AS PREMIER SPORTS AND STV PLAYER TEAM UP IN NEW DEAL

A new partnership between sports provider Premier Sports and streaming service STV Player will bring together all the heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat moments that unite live sports, TV drama and soaps - in one place. The two have joined forces to offer viewers an exclusive and competitively priced package of top-flight sports plus ad-free high-quality drama box sets, true crime documentaries and entertainment juggernauts via STV's streaming platform, STV Player.

For the price of a standalone Premier Sports package, viewers who sign up via STV Player will also become STV Player+ subscribers. They'll be able to access three 24/7 live Premier Sports channels (Premier Sports 1, Premier Sports 2 and LALIGATV), plus thousands of hours of UK and international TV shows ad-free and downloadable. The combined service makes this both a unique and compelling offering in the market.

Premier Sports is the holder of major Scottish football rights, including Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup and Premier Sports Cup, as well as the Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, United Rugby Championship and TOP14. They also have a growing plethora of sports across the UK and internationally, such as LALIGA, Coppa Italia, German Cup, NHL (National Hockey League), SHL (Swedish Hockey League) and NASCAR.  All of this will be available to subscribers via STV Player, including Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup and United Rugby Championship games on air this February and March.

STV Player is home to high-end drama box sets, such as Those Who Kill, Betrayal, Joan, Playing Nice, Trigger Point, Vera and The Fix; quiz shows The Chase, The 1% Club and Deal or No Deal; top network soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale; fan favourites Brookside and Irish drama Red Rock; and classic shows like Taggart and Rebus. On its own, the service is free with adverts or ad-free on subscription.

Viewers can sign up to the combined service from 5 February via STV Player.

Richard Williams, MD of STV Digital, said: "We're thrilled to be partnering with Premier Sports to offer viewers the perfect mix of ad-free TV shows and thrilling live sport all in the one place. STV Player is no stranger to major sports tournaments, with the likes of the UEFA Euros, FIFA World Cup and Rugby World Cup all delivering record-breaking audiences for our streamer.  This partnership with Premier Sports significantly elevates the sports offering via our platform whilst, at the same time, bringing our vast range of high-quality content to a raft of new viewers."

Richard Sweeney, CEO of Premier Sports, commented: "We're delighted to partner with STV Player increasing the availability of our Premier Sports channels and offering fans an unrivalled mix of live sport and top-quality entertainment. With a strong lineup of Scottish sport including the three main Scottish football competitions plus broadcasting Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh in Europe and the URC, it's the perfect fit for STV's audience, making premium content more accessible than ever."

For more information and media enquiries:

STV PLAYER:                        Stephen Innes, STV - Stephen.innes@stv.tv | 07500 757049

                                               Kirstin Stevenson, STV - Kirstin.stevenson@stv.tv |07803 970106

PREMIER SPORTS:      Barry Thomson, PMPR Excellence - barry@prexcellence.com

  General enquiries: press@premiersports.com

Notes to Editors

-     STV Player is a free streaming service which provides access to all STV's network content to viewers in Scotland (such as The Chase, The Masked Singer, Coronation Street and Emmerdale), as well as a range of acquired and archive content to viewers across the UK (such as Brookside, Betrayal, Shortland Street, Red Rock and Taggart) - all free of charge with advertising.

-     STV Player+ subscribers can pay £3.99 to watch STV Player without the adverts on a standalone basis.

-     Viewers who subscribe to STV Player+ with Premier Sports will automatically become STV Player+ subscribers and be able to watch STV content ad-free, as part of their subscription cost.

-     Viewers to STV Player who do NOT subscribe to STV Player+ with Premier Sports will of course still be able to watch Free to Air major sporting events sports that are on STV Player. These include Listed Events (as designated by the Secretary of State) such as FIFA World Cup (both men and women's, UEFA European Championship, Olympic Games, FA Cup Final and Scottish Cup Final). 

-     Details of the costs for the STV Player+ with Premier Sports subscription can be found at stv.tv/signup.

ABOUT PREMIER SPORTS

Premier Sports was founded in 2009 by Michael O'Rourke. The broadcaster currently operates two sports channels in the UK and Republic of Ireland with rights to LALIGA, Scottish Premiership, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup, United Rugby Championship, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, TOP14, NHL, IIHF Worlds and NASCAR available in both markets.

In the Republic of Ireland, Premier Sports has exclusive rights to a Saturday 3pm Premier League fixture from every round, FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

Premier Sports is also active in Asia broadcasting exclusive rugby coverage such as the URC, Gallagher Premiership, Investec Champions Cup, Guinness Six Nations in 22 countries.

ABOUT STV PLAYER

STV's free streaming service, STV Player, features an ever-growing library of premium content including high quality UK original and international drama box-sets, sport and factual entertainment - much of which isn't available to stream on any other platform in the UK.

STV Player is pre-installed in three quarters of the UK's connected TV homes and is available on all major platforms, including Sky Q, NOW, Virgin Media, Amazon Fire TV, Freesat, Youview, Freely and Freeview Play. 

Show highlights include true crime drama, Joan; hit Irish police, soap, Red Rock; legal thriller, Betrayal; and iconic soap, Brookside. We also offer viewers a unique package via a partnership with Premier Sports, providing a variety of top-flight sports coverage.

Viewers can also watch STV Player content ad-free and download shows by subscribing to STV Player+.

www.stv.tv

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