Advanced Television

Premier League TV audiences down for Sky, BT

June 12, 2017

Sky has suffered its biggest drop in viewers for live Premier League games since records began in 2010.

The Premier League sold broadcasting rights to Sky Sports and BT Sport for a record £5.136 billion (€5.76bn)  in the latest three-year deal in February 2015, – £10 million per televised game. But Sky has recorded their steepest decline in viewers in the seven years since the figures were recorded.

According to the FT, the average number of viewers on Sky Sports’ live channels fell 14 per cent this past season, with total viewing hours falling by 6 per cent. BT Sport has also seen a drop in viewers, but only of 2 per cent in average viewing.

Despite the somewhat downbeat TV numbers, Sky said its own figures show that viewing on its streaming platforms (ie Sky Go, NOW TV) had risen by 31 per cent, and thus the total number of people watching its Premier League coverage last season was actually at its highest for three years’.

Categories: Articles, Content, Pay TV