The decline in viewing figures for live sport have been "largely blamed on younger audiences' preference for consuming highlights on social media," however new research revealed "only 2% of millennials prefer to watch their sports as clips on social media." The findings come from a study analyzing the viewing habits of "young millennials," those aged 18-24. Traditional sports broadcasters "suffered declining viewing figures," leading to "fears that cord cutting and illegal streaming services were eating into audience figures." The answer "may not lie in OTT Netflix-style services" like Now TV, though. The analysis found that "only 5%" of millennials questioned said that they used such services for live sport, compared to 2% for non-millennials (THE DRUM 4/26).
Fight Channel Group's linear channel, Fight Channel, has been "acquired by United Media for an undisclosed fee." Fight Channel is available in the former Yugoslavia region (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 4/27).
WWE and TV5 announced an agreement to broadcast WWE's flagship program, SmackDown, in the Philippines on TV5 beginning on Sunday. TV5 will televise a one-hour edition of SmackDown every Sunday at 3pm. In addition to the broadcast on TV5, SmackDown will be simulcast online at TV5.com.ph and Sports.tv5.com.ph (WWE).