Advanced Television

Univision builds pay-wall for FIFA final stages

July 4, 2014

By Colin Mann

schweinsteiger-footballHaving reported record unique viewing figures for the USA v Belgium second round match at the World Cup in Brazil, with 1.8 million football fans watching the game live online and via mobile devices, Univision Communications is setting up the pay-TV equivalent of a defensive wall for the remaining eight games, kicking off with the July 4th France vs. Germany Quarter Final. The Group stages and the eight second round matches had been available free on a ‘trial’ basis.

For the rest of the tournament, Univision’s digital feeds will only be available behind a pay-TV wall, meaning that users will need to be subscribers of a provider carrying the Univision Deportes Network cable channel. The cable login is something WatchESPN has done since the beginning of Brazil 2014.
According to US cable MSO Comcast, under the terms of its existing TV Everywhere deal with Univision, it will not offer live-streaming coverage of the broadcaster’s Spanish-language World Cup programming via its Xfinity TV Go properties or through authentication on Univision’s website and app. The remaining games will be available through WatchESPN and the Xfinity TV Go website and apps.

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