BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Deutsche Telekom has been surprised by the enormous rush of new customers ahead of the European Championship round of 16 match between Turkey and Austria (2:1). Due to the match on Tuesday evening, there were a number of new registrations for MagentaTV shortly before kick-off. "The sporadic rush on our booking platform far exceeded our capacities, which had already been significantly increased in advance," a company spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"There were delays during the MagentaTV booking process shortly before the start of the match, which is why we showed the game via YouTube in the digital waiting room," the statement continued.

The match in Leipzig was the exclusive MagentaTV match, which originally required a paid subscription to the Telekom streaming service. However, a number of new registrations for the match led to waiting times. The provider ultimately decided to also show the match on YouTube.

Criticism in the run-up

The fact that the match was not shown on free TV, i.e. neither on the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF nor on RTL, had led to criticism before the match. Around three million people of Turkish origin live in Germany.

The background: MagentaTV was allowed to show one round of 16 match at the European Championship exclusively. The broadcasters do not comment on who was allowed to select which position in a match. ZDF opted for the match between the German national team and Denmark. When it was its turn, the paid streaming service Magenta chose the match between the Turks and the Austrians./ban/DP/nas