LONDON (Reuters) - BT (>> BT Group plc) has struck a deal to show BSkyB's (>> British Sky Broadcasting Group plc) Sky Movies on its TV service, marking an easing in tension between the companies that have been battling to attract football viewers since the summer.

Telecoms company BT said on Monday its television customers would be able to add Sky Movies for a monthly subscription from October 26. In addition, its broadband customers would be able to get Sky Movies as an on-demand service.

BT has ramped up its TV offer in recent months by adding sports channels that show some English Premier League football matches, encroaching on territory in sports programming dominated by BSkyB for 20 years.

BT has committed about 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) to its new sports channels, which it offers as part of its broadband packages.

BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster that is 39 percent-owned by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox (>> Twenty-First Century Fox Inc), has previously outbid rivals for both sports and movies content, using revenue from its more than 10 million customers. It retains the lion's share of the rights to Premier League football.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Mark Potter)