BT Vision hires ex-Sky Sports man for marketing

by Alex Donohue, Brand Republic 10-Jan-07, 08:30

LONDON - BT Vision has appointed Paul Ridsdale, the former head of marketing at Sky Sports, as its senior marketing manager for sports, advertising and sponsorship.

Ridsdale will be responsible for all marketing relating to the sport portfolio across BT Vision, BT's next generation TV service which launched in December 2006. He will report to James Soames, BT Vision's head of customer acquisition.

Lib Charlesworth, director of sales and marketing at BT Vision, described Ridsdale as having great experience and being "one of the key people in developing sports TV in the UK over the past few years".

BT Vision confirmed plans to launch its sports service BT Vision Sport in the summer of 2007, following on from its content deal with Setanta Sport last year.

Charlesworth added: "His addition greatly strengthens BT Vision's marketing team and he will help to make BT Vision Sport a uniquely attractive service."

When it arrives, BT Vision Sport will aim to offer viewers three quarters of Premiership football games, alongside Setanta Sport's 60 live Scottish Premier League matches.

Ridsdale said: "On-demand viewing in particular is a totally new concept for sport and I'm looking forward to devising strategies to bring this interactive and convenient form of viewing to sports fans across the UK."

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