In the first 10 weeks of this season, TV viewership for live Premier League games on Sky fell 12% year on year, according to Ahmed, Bond & Garrahan of the FINANCIAL TIMES. A similar trend has occurred in the U.S. with the NFL, where for some American football matches viewing figures "have been down" by as much as 20%. It is a "startling reversal for the two most-watched sport franchises in their domestic markets and among the most valuable leagues in the world." If the trend is sustained, "it could be a critical blow to TV networks and sport groups on both sides of the Atlantic." Broadcasters are "already under pressure as audiences drift to internet-based rivals such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video." Sarah Simon, an analyst at Berenberg, said that "in an era of so much choice for TV viewers sport remains the one big driver of audience for pay TV operators like Sky." She said, "If you take the view that this is a permanent diminution of sport on television, it would be very damaging." One U.S. sport industry exec argues live sport on TV is suffering “death by a thousand cuts.” The slashes are being inflicted by “cord-cutters” -- subscribers who are ditching pay-TV for on-demand services, fans watching pirated streams and a millennial audience distracted by social media. At the same time the media industry is set to be transformed by AT&T’s $85.4B offer for Time Warner, a deal that "still needs U.S. regulatory approval." The U.S. telecom group is "betting that it can marry Time Warner’s trove of content with its vast network of customers to sell entertainment direct to them." The deal could "further change the way live sport is shown and analysts predict that it could spark a wave of consolidation." Sky is a "potential target" for 21st Century Fox, which already owns 40% of the broadcaster. Sky Sports "blames the decline in viewing on fewer big-name clashes at the start of the season." Sky said that it registered a 3.5 million peak audience during Liverpool’s clash with ManU on Oct. 17, "its highest-rated Premier League game in three years." Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore said, "It is way too early and there are far too many variables at play such as the timing, context and nature of the matches." By contrast, BT’s viewing figures have "risen by seven percent for the first 13 matches of this season compared with the same period last year, largely due to a scheduling shift to a more attractive time." Broadcasters and execs at sports leagues "accept there are areas of long-term concern." Not least "how to keep young people focused on the action amid so many digital distractions." Ampere Analysis, a research group, found that interest in sport among the 18-24 age group "is sliding." Another issue "is fans watching via unauthorised livestreams." Scudamore: "Piracy [is] basically a romanticized word for theft." The rhetoric "will be familiar to those in the music and movie industries, which made similar proclamations during their existential battle with online pirates" in the '90s and '00s (FT, 11/8).
