News International's new CEO Mike Darcey has held up winning the Premier League digital rights as indicative of his vision for the company's future, centered around "content worth paying for" and "customer care," according to Arif Durrani of MEDIA WEEK. The former COO at BSkyB outlined his vision for the new News Int'l, "which will emerge from the creation of the Fox Group in July." He called the deal secured in January to show Premier League football highlights on mobile and Internet sites for The Sun, Times and Sunday Times, a "great example of our thinking and ambition." Darcey: "There are few news businesses that combine the financial muscle and technical expertise that made this deal possible with the knowledge of audience that will ensure we can turn it into a paying proposition. This truly is content worth paying for, and it’s going to be content that delivers an audience worth advertising to." The deal has been "unofficially valued" at more than £20M ($30M), and will enable News Int'l brands to present "up to eight 30-second clips of key moments during live matches via mobile devices" (MEDIA WEEK, 3/8).
