Support NeoGAF

[DeaconKnowledge]

http://deadspin.com/premier-league-tv-ratings-are-falling-off-a-cliff-too-1788768437

You’ve no doubt heard that TV ratings for NFL broadcasts are down double digits. So are English Premier League ratings, on both sides of the pond.


As of last month, Sky Sports—which shows about three quarters of the Premier League games available in England—was seeing ratings declines of 19 percent compared to last year. The ratings for Sky’s flagship Sunday afternoon game is actually in a five-year free fall. On BT Sport, Champions League ratings are down, too. (Europa League ratings are up, possibly because the most popular English team, Manchester United, are playing in the latter competition.) Last year, Sky and BT combined to pay a record £5.14 billion for three years of domestic Premier League rights.

It is a similar story in the U.S. NBC Sports’s Premier League ratings are down 17 percent, and ratings for games on NBC seem down as well, though comparisons to last year are tough to make. This comes after three years of record viewership, and a year after NBC Sports plunked down a billion dollars to retain Premier League rights for six years, at double the annual cost they’d paid previously.

More at the link.

 

[Tambini]

Sky is so overpriced people would rather stream it or go to the pub

 

[DragonSworne]

No one has time for sports when both country are falling a part.

 

[Mindwipe]

Yeah, slightly different reasons to the NFL though, the UK drop seems to be almost entirely driven by piracy, which is partly driven by the lack of UK transmissions of the 3pm kickoffs.

 

[GeordieMark]

Sky is so overpriced people would rather stream it or go to the pub

Yep. I know a lot of people who cancelled this season to start using Kodi. Since they started sharing the tv rights with BT, the value proposition has fallen in the eyes of a lot of people. It does feel like I get less footy for my money these days, even if the actual number of games televised is pretty much the same. A few years ago I was getting all of the European competitions as well as the domestic games, but to have access to the same games now costs twice as much because you need two subscriptions.

Its unfortunate, because the PL has been increasingly exciting over the past couple of years.

 

[johancruijff]

good

 

[LAM09]

Sky is so overpriced people would rather stream it or go to the pub

Sums it up. Prices are joke now.

 

[Charles Brandon]

No one has time for sports when both country are falling a part.

LOL

but seriously, it's down to kodi etc.

 

[EPaul]

Streaming most likely is causing this

 

[Meadows]

streams

 

[Mesoian]

They'll probably find a way to blame this on Kapernick too.

But yeah, it's evolving stream technology, the NFL and the PL refusing to embrace it and sell decend, official streaming packages to people despite the technology existing, the constant catering to big telcom by making having cable the only real way to have live sports in any sort of official compacity.

They'll keep catering to their masters and let the thing that's ACTUALLY driving sales and ratings down run rampant and get so good and easy to do that it'll be beyond their control.

 

[jelly]

Football is split between Sky and BT, prices remained the same or slightly higher. Basically jog the fuck on, not interested in either. MOTD is all I really watch. Champions League on BT exclusively is the kick in the nuts, they show the odd free game because they have to but the consistently shit and pointless ones whereas ITV for all their shitness showed the home teams all the time and got good important games too that people wanted to watch. I would suffer their commentary again. Even the Domestic Cups and Internationals are on pay TV. Fuck it all. Money wins. Not surprised people have walked away.