The Guardian:
ITV and Sky Sports yesterday unveiled a joint deal to continue covering Champions League football for another three years from next season. But in one major change to the existing £83m-a-year deal, those who do not subscribe to Sky will be able to see live matches in full on the internet for the first time.
The contract had been agreed in principle about a month ago but faced a series of minor delays as the details were ironed out, but ITV will continue to broadcast its pick of two live games on a Tuesday evening. Sky Sports will carry the six remaining games through its interactive service and all eight on a Wednesday. Both broadcasters, who faced coITV is likely to use ITV1 and ITV4, a new channel aimed predominantly at men, to show its games. It also has the option of screening matches featuring Scottish clubs, and which take place on a Tuesday, in Scotland. Both ITV and Sky Sports will show live games over the internet after Uefa insisted on the clause in an effort to stimulate the market for high-speed broadband services. As technology improves, it is likely that an increasing number of viewers will choose to watch TV pictures delivered via the internet.
Sky Sports will charge those who use its broadband service a monthly fee but they will not need to be subscribers to the pay-TV service to watch games. ITV will show the games for nothing.