Among both the football and investment communities, the heavyweight clash between broadcasting giants BT (LSE: BT-A) (NYSE: BT.US) and Sky (LSE: BSY) has been as captivating as the resumption of the football season itself.
But in my opinion, stock pickers should not overlook the terrific investment appeal of fellow telecoms provider TalkTalk (LSE: TALK), which also looks very much on course to enjoy electrifying growth in the years ahead.
Big dogs deliver plenty of bite
London-based BT has seen TV and broadband subscriptions head through the roof over the past year, and the aggressive expansion of its 
fibre network across Britain — combined with the decision to offer its BT Sport package free to all broadband customers — pushed revenues at its Consumer division 10% higher alone during April-June.
On the other side of the capital, meanwhile, Sky saw the number of new subscribers hit a three-year peak in the 12 months to June, at 342,000, with the number of its TV customers doubling to 264,000 from the previous year. Not only has the company invested heavily in original drama, entertainment and comedy to complement its popular sports packages, but technological innovations such as its Sky Go Extra mobile facility has also proved a winner with viewers.
… but don’t rule out the underdog
But TalkTalk is also making significant headway in the ‘triple-services’ entertainment space, and punched its sixth successive quarter of annual growth during April-June with a solid 3.1% revenues rise. The business saw particular strength in its TV division, with 185,000 net additions boosting its total base to 1.1 million subscriptions.
The FTSE 250 firm has announced various initiatives to boost its YouView television platform and boost its market share, including a tie-up with Sky to offer its customers half-price access to Sky Sports for three months. It will also begin broadcasting boxing channel BoxNation and multi-sport channel Premier Sports from this week — like its rivals, the growing army of armchair sports fans has not gone unnoticed by the business and should keep turnover spinning higher.
Earnings expected to detonate
In light of this surging demand, TalkTalk is anticipated to record explosive earnings growth to the tune of 108% in the year concluding March 2015, soaring above prospective expansion of 4% and 6% for BT and Sky respectively for the current 12-month period.
Still, some would argue that a heady P/E rating of 21.3 for fiscal 2015 makes TalkTalk business an exceptionally expensive selection, particularly when compared with a corresponding reading of 12.7 for BT and 13.3 for Sky.
But the anticipation of further medium-term growth could arguably make TalkTalk a bona-fide bargain — indeed, an additional 54% earnings improvement in 2016 drives the P/E multiple to within striking range of its rivals, at 13.8. Indeed, the telecoms minnow’s stratospheric growth projections produce price to growth to earnings (PEG) ratios of just 0.2 for this year and 0.3 for 2016, comfortably below the value benchmark of 1.
And TalkTalk also provides better bang for one’s buck for income chasers, too. The business is expected to lift last year’s 12p per share dividend to 13.6p in 2015, and to 16.6p in 2016, in turn producing yields of 4.6% and 5.6% respectively. By comparison BT carries a forward yield of 3.4% while Sky boasts a corresponding readout of 4.1%.
