Blog: broadcaster

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Watch Together: BT Sport adapts to lockdown, offering synchronised group streaming

Alistair Taylor

4 Feb 2021

BT Sport

telco

The pandemic-enforced prohibition of fans in attendance at sporting events has weakened the viewing spectacle, forcing rights holders and operators to experiment with the viewing experience. The NHL pioneered the drive for change in terms of the viewing format, vying to create a ‘ made-for-TV ’ product for its 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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English Premiership Rugby gets set for a digital shake-up

Alistair Taylor

17 Dec 2020

English Premiership Rugby

Amazon

tech major

Tech major Amazon is reportedly looking to add to its burgeoning sports right portfolio, targeting the domestic broadcast rights for English Premiership Rugby. London Irish owner, Mick Crossan, confirmed the giant’s entry into the tender process to the Mail on Sunday , following Amazon’s experiment with live streaming rugby after its acquisition and £20 million lifeline for the exclusive UK broadcast rights to last months’ inaugural Autumn Nations Cup .

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Can LiveScore learn valuable lessons from Eleven Sports’ UK failings?

Alistair Taylor

24 Aug 2020

streaming service

LiveScore

OTT

Streaming insurgent LiveScore launched its first ever over-the-top (OTT), ad-supported direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming proposition in the UK back in June, harbouring a similar rights portfolio to that of Eleven Sports’ failed proposition back in 2018 .

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Reach for the win: BT Sport to air UEFA Champions League final on YouTube

Alistair Taylor

23 Jul 2020

Video

Sports

Media & Marketing

UK pay-TV incumbent BT Sport has announced it will air this year’s (COVID-delayed) UEFA Champions League (UCL) final free-to-air (FTA) on Google-owned YouTube. YouTube’s head of sport in EMEA, Tomos Grace confirmed the move with SportsPro Media :“BT Sport have been amazing partners for YouTube and we’re very privileged to be working with them.

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Collapsing Maul: Sport Facing Global Rights Re-valuations

Alistair Taylor

4 May 2020

All Blacks

All or Nothing

broadcast rights

The English Gallagher Premiership Rugby provides another case study that demonstrates just how significant COVID-19’s impact on rights holders is likely to be moving forward, as it faces a substantial drop in the value of its broadcast rights.

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Forget Virtual – UFC and NRL going Remote

Alistair Taylor

10 Apr 2020

Associated Press

broadcaster

With fans currently starved of sports entertainment during lockdown, rights holders are jumping out of the gate to be the first to put on live sports to serve any form of quick fix to see a jump in engagement.

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Self-Isolation: DAZN Concedes to COVID-19

Alistair Taylor

6 Apr 2020

additive services

all-encompassing offering

asset class

Sports streaming insurgent DAZN has announced last week it plans to inform rights holders of its intent to defer its payments of rights fees for any content not yet delivered (i.e. postponed / cancelled games) during this pandemic-enforced freeze on live sports.

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‘If You Ain’t First, You’re Last’: Revenue-Over-Reach Argument Not Refuted for F1

Alistair Taylor

9 Jan 2020

audience viewership

average age

BARB

2019 audience figures for Formula One (F1) provide the latest example of a rights holder opting for short-term revenue optimisation over long-term strategic growth, to the detriment of its viewing audience.

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Knock On: Rights Holders Cannot Chance Latency?

Alistair Taylor

26 Sep 2019

Akamai

broadband providers

broadcaster

The IRB Rugby World Cup (RWC) commenced last Friday with hosts Japan producing a fine victory over second-time qualifiers Russia, 30-10. The first RWC to be held in Asia provides Australasian countries with a much more sociable tournament in terms of kick-off times.

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Sport1 To Drop US-centric Channel in Favour of Esports

Alistair Taylor

5 Dec 2018

addressable audience

audience demographics

broadcaster

German broadcaster Sport1 is replacing its US sport focused channel for the very first German-speaking esports channel. Sport1 announced last week that the channel dubbed eSports1 will launch in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on January 24th 2019, replacing Sport1 US.

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