BT Sport and TV boss departs after three years

Delia Bushell

The managing director of BT Sport and BT TV, Delia Bushell, has announced plans to step down following a three-year stint at the UK telecoms operator.

Bushell will stay at BT until the start of June to oversee a handover of responsibilities and is due to announce her future plans “in the coming weeks”.

“This was a difficult decision as I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved over the past few years,” said Bushell.

“But with the successful renewal of our UEFA Champions and Europa League rights and the launch of our new, improved BT TV YouView service, I can now confidently hand over the baton to the excellent team around me.”

Bushell joined BT in 2014 and has helped to drive growth in revenues and TV subscribers, overseeing the launch of BT’s European football coverage, its BT Sports app and its 4K, Ultra HD services.

BT first secured exclusive live TV rights to all Champions League football matches as part of a £897 million (€1.07 billion) three-year deal that came into effect from the start of the 2015/16 season.

In March of this year it retained exclusive rights to air Champions League and Europa League football in the UK until the end of the 2020-21 season, gaining exclusive rights across all live games, highlights and in-match clips.

In February, BT also introduced “the next generation of YouView” with a set-top box software update that will add a new user interface, a faster full-screen guide, and quicker access to media players and apps.

“Delia leaves with our very best wishes for the future, having made a major contribution to the development of both BT TV and BT Sport,” said BT Consumer CEO, John Petter.

“She leaves behind a strong team that she developed during her time here. We will announce in due course our succession plan for the BT TV and BT Sport businesses.”