BSkyB Hit Hard By World Cup Viewing

BSkyB’s sports channels suffered a significant decline in viewers during the World Cup as Sky did not have rights to broadcast any of the matches. BBC1, ITV and Eurosport, however, all benefitted from their coverage of World Cup matches.

In cable and satellite homes Sky Sports 1’s average weekly viewing (hours:minutes) fell from 1:02 in June 1997 to just 0:17 during the competition in June this year. Share of viewing for the channel dipped from 4.0% to 0.9%, according to BARB data.

Sky Sports 3 fared similarly: share of viewing fell from 1.1% to 0.4% year on year, and average weekly viewing hours in cable and satellite homes dropped from 0:18 to 0:04.

ITV’s share of viewing in cable and satellite homes grew from 24.5% in June 1997 to 29.3% during June this year. Eurosport, which had rights to broadcast highlights of all World Cup matches, enjoyed a rise in its viewing hours during June. Average weekly hours for the month were up by 23.5% to 0:21.

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