LeTV To Pay $400 Million For English Premier League Rights In Hong Kong

Chinese digital media company LeTV "is reported to have beaten" Hong Kong’s PCCW in a $400M-plus swoop for the rights to broadcast English Premier League matches in the city from next season, according to the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. LeTV will "shell out" more than double the $200M PCCW "is now paying for their three-year deal with the EPL, which is in its final season." LeTV’s deal "is reported for three years as well, though the announcement has yet to be made by either party." LeTV is China’s largest online video company and said in June that it would invest HK$6B ($774M) in its EPL ambitions. LeTV "launched its Hong Kong service last year by selling its 50-inch 4K television sets." It "hopes to become one of the top three Hong Kong pay-TV services in a market dominated by i-Cable and Now TV" (SCMP, 9/8).