Blog: FTA

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.

English Premiership Rugby gets set for a digital shake-up

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Alistair Taylor

17 Dec 2020

English Premiership Rugby

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...

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Discovery enters streaming race with discovery+ and Olympics offering

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Alistair Taylor

9 Dec 2020

Last week , Discovery announced it will launch discovery+, ‘the definitive non-fiction’ subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD), on January 4th, 2021. Consumers in the US can expect the largest-ever content...

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The Premier League going pay-per-view means a sucker-punch for sports fans

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Alistair Taylor

15 Oct 2020

English Premier League

English Premier League (EPL) clubs have agreed an ‘interim solution’ to allow fans to continue watching their teams live. EPL fixtures not selected for broadcast in October will be available to fans...

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European Professional Club Rugby goes OTT, pressing business over the needs of fans

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Alistair Taylor

23 Sep 2020

European Professional Club Rugby

Last Friday , European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), the Heineken Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup’s governing body announced the launch of its global over-the-top (OTT) streaming...

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

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Alistair Taylor

24 Aug 2020

streaming service

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...

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COVID fallout: BBC no longer considers UK Athletics value for money

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Alistair Taylor

19 Aug 2020

COVID-19 exposed live entertainment as a vulnerable asset class , specifically following the pandemic-enforced postponement of live sports . One of the hardest hit during this hiatus and ensuing uncertainty...

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

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Alistair Taylor

23 Jul 2020

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...

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NBCUniversal hopes to draw level with Premier League move

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Alistair Taylor

15 Jul 2020

With Comcast’s NBCUniversal-owned Peacock launching today (July 15th), sports fans will be excited ahead of NBCU’s repositioning of its English Premier League (EPL) rights, giving paying subscribers...

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Innovation via Free-to-air Highlights Missed Opportunity to date for the EPL

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Alistair Taylor

24 Jun 2020

Sporting rights

Following live sports’ hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the English Premier League (EPL) saw two of the top three most-watched matches in league history occur last weekend. The previous record...

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Premier League Acknowledges Priorities Have Changed During Lockdown

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Alistair Taylor

11 Jun 2020

artificial crowd noise

The English Premier League (EPL) is set to return to screens next Wednesday, over three months since the last fixture graced our screens. Considering the pandemic enforced-postponement has deprived sports...

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Collapsing Maul: Sport Facing Global Rights Re-valuations

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Alistair Taylor

4 May 2020

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...

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Olympics Postponement: The Sports Media Landscape of COVID-19

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Alistair Taylor

26 Mar 2020

Advertising Revenue

The global COVID-19 pandemic is increasing pressure on the viability of emerging and legacy media business models, and is already having an unprecedented impact on the sports industry. An unprecedented...

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Six Nations Behind a Paywall: Can Rugby Afford to Bench Free-To-Air?

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Alistair Taylor

6 Mar 2020

consumption habits

Six Nations organisers are reportedly considering awarding the exclusive distribution rights for its annual competition to pay-TV operator Sky, in an unprecedented £300 ($384) million deal. Organisers...

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

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Alistair Taylor

9 Jan 2020

audience viewership

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?

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Alistair Taylor

26 Sep 2019

broadband providers

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...

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Is YouTube MLB’s Answer to Tap into Younger Audience?

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Alistair Taylor

29 Jul 2019

cable consumption

On July 18 th , Google-owned YouTube livestreamed the first of its exclusive Major League Baseball (MLB) matches, acquired through a partnership announced with the MLB at the end of April 2019 . YouTube’s...

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