Nearly 60% of UK sports fans open to exclusively streaming sport

The coronavirus lockdown has accelerated the turn to online streaming A study from cloud video platform Grabyo has found that 59% of UK sports fans would be willing to switch to exclusively streaming their sport. The UK At Home Video Trends 2020 report surveyed over 2,000 UK consumers on their video consumption and purchasing habits, […]

The future of sports broadcasting rights in a post-Covid world

COMMENT: Tomos Jones, senior associate at global law firm Reed Smith on the changing value of sports rights in a post-Covid world. At the time of writing, live sports events are showing the first, tentative signs of ‘getting the show back on the road’. Major football and cricket events now have scheduled resumption dates, and […]

MPs slam government for refusing to consider Six Nations listed status

The DCMS committee had called for the competition’s status to be reviewed The Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee has made clear its disappointment in the government rejecting its calls to consider the Six Nations’ listed event status. The competition has been the focus of reports that it may go behind a paywall, with the […]

Pay-tv move sees F1 lose audiences but continue sponsorship strength

Formula One has seen some audience growth in China and the USA Formula One has seen audiences shrink but sponsorship stay strong since its move to pay-tv. The racing series has managed to keep revenues steady despite the loss of viewers, in part helped by the unevenness of that loss. The sport has actually seen […]

Sky reveals offer to pause sports subscriptions during coronavirus postponements

The pay-tv broadcaster will also stop billing commercial clients Sky has offered to pause payments on sports subscriptions for all residential customers. The pay-tv broadcaster has also revealed that it has stopped billing commercial clients such as pubs and bars as of 14 March. Sky has seen a number of sport competitions that it holds […]

MPs demand answers on Six Nations paywall deal

It has been reported that a deal is likely The Digital, Media, Culture, and Sport (DCMS) committee has demanded answers from the Six Nations on reports that a pay-tv deal is possible. It has asked Chairman of the Six Nations Council, John Jeffrey, to explain the timescale and operations of the bidding process. MPs have […]

Study predicts over half of pay-tv subscribers to ditch subscriptions

44% of fans already don’t subscribe to traditional pay-tv platforms A study from Grabyo has found that 54% of pay-tv subscribers plan to stop paying for one within the next five years. The ‘Value of Video Report 2020: The Consumer Strikes Back’ report used data from 13,000 consumers from UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, US, […]

C4 head of sport champions free-to-air/pay TV partnerships

Channel 4 head of sport, Pete Andrews used the Westminster Media Forum Sports Broadcasting event to showcase the benefits of free-to-air/pay TV partnerships Speaking at the Westminster Media Forum Event on Sports Broadcasting on Tuesday, C4 head of sport Pete Andrews made clear his support of partnering with pay TV providers for flagship sporting events. […]

Discovery acquires Golf Channel Latin America

Broadcaster adds to golf portfolio with pay-TV acquisition Discovery has bolstered its golf media business in Latin America with the acquisition of pay-service Golf Channel Latin America. The channel was bought from Simple Networks LLC and Fornaluz Productions, S.A., an affiliate of Inversiones Bahia. The acquisition adds to Discovery’s global portfolio that includes digital platform GOLFTV, […]