Sky Sports revamp

Zebra3

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jun/27/sky-sports-channels-prices-football-golf-cricket

Doesn't seem to have been mentioned elsewhere on here, but yesterday Sky announced that they'll be selling basically a Sky Sports Football only package.

I actually ditched SS a couple of years ago as it was getting too expensive and felt ripped off at paying for bogball, egg chasing, and so much other crap like golf and snooker that I've no interest in.

Hopefully they get the price right on it.

gimmick

Well they had to do something. €49.50 for a sports package per month is crazy. Dumped it a long time ago and not missed it.

Did the article not say approx €18.50 per month? if it were around that I think I would re sub.

I didn't notice it mentioned from when this would kick in though.

citytillidie

What is putting people off is having to take out another package just to be able to get sports.

Fr Tod Umptious

gimmick wrote: »

Well they had to do something. €49.50 for a sports package per month is crazy. Dumped it a long time ago and not missed it.

Did the article not say approx €18.50 per month? if it were around that I think I would re sub.

I didn't notice it mentioned from when this would kick in though.

It said £18 for the cheapest package, football packages are unlikely to be the cheapest.

The problem I can see with this is that there will be very little live and a hell of a lot of filler.

If there is an EPL package then you are going to get some live games between Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening and feck all else for the rest of the week.

No matter how into soccer you are you can only take some much of "Premier League Ledgend : Shaka Hislop"

I'm guessing their plan is that people will subscribe to multiple packages.

I get Sky Sports every Christmas on a half price offer, but with that I get to see soccer, darts and NFL.

I also like BT during the winter because it has soccer, Big Bash cricket, NCAA football.

At the end of the day you can't beat variety.

rob316

Finally. They are realizing its better to get something from the people not subscribing than nothing at all and going illegal routes.

€18 per month I think I'd go for that.

Tigerandahalf

citytillidie wrote: »

What is putting people off is having to take out another package just to be able to get sports.

That is a big part of the problem. I would have no interest in the soccer except the Champions League which is on at ideal times. Tues and Wed nights during the winter when you are not going to be doing anything else.

The above is free on TV3 and RTE2. The rugby is nearly all on BT going forward so there is very little incentive to get Sky.

Apparently in the UK 10m people are on Freeview only who Sky are hoping to entice.

Apparently SKY are bringing out a product next year in the UK that will deliver their services through broadband. A huge amount of people can't put up sky dishes.

It will be interesting to see how all football matches would be accommodated on just 2 channels unless they are going to use the red button interactive services.

Fr Tod Umptious

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

That is a big part of the problem. I would have no interest in the soccer except the Champions League which is on at ideal times. Tues and Wed nights during the winter when you are not going to be doing anything else.

The above is free on TV3 and RTE2. The rugby is nearly all on BT going forward so there is very little incentive to get Sky.

Apparently in the UK 10m people are on Freeview only who Sky are hoping to entice.

Apparently SKY are bringing out a product next year in the UK that will deliver their services through broadband. A huge amount of people can't put up sky dishes.

It will be interesting to see how all football matches would be accommodated on just 2 channels unless they are going to use the red button interactive services.

One might be EPL only, one may be EFL and certain European leagues, and maybe they put a bit more on the "Arena" channel.

No way will all the "good stuff" be on one place.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

It said £18 for the cheapest package, football packages are unlikely to be the cheapest.

The problem I can see with this is that there will be very little live and a hell of a lot of filler.

If there is an EPL package then you are going to get some live games between Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening and feck all else for the rest of the week.

No matter how into soccer you are you can only take some much of "Premier League Ledgend : Shaka Hislop"

I'm guessing their plan is that people will subscribe to multiple packages.

I get Sky Sports every Christmas on a half price offer, but with that I get to see soccer, darts and NFL.

I also like BT during the winter because it has soccer, Big Bash cricket, NCAA football.

At the end of the day you can't beat variety.

Agree.The variety of the BT package is great.I've not got into NCAA football and basketball, NBA,NHL and even MLB when the playoffs are on and the Big Bash does be great at christmas time.I had no real interest in these until BT started providing them and now I'd be lost without them.The great variety of BT's package means there is always something worth watching on.

The bad thing about Skys package currently is it is overly concentrated on the EPL and has very little variety.They have way too much filler on their channels and could really get rid of a couple of them and squash there content into fewer channels.

Laois_Man

I don't think this is going to bring their numbers up much. Fact is, they'll still be only allowed to show the same number of PL games live, they'll still have to show Brighton, Stoke, Bournemouth etc a certain number of times per season, and people will still want to watch their own club every time they play, which the new structure still won't provide. So as long as the technology with IPTV and the like stays ahead of them, they are screwed, until they make every teams PL game available every week, which isn't the license they currently have.

Liam McPoyle

2 channels for football.

Prolly one for for domestic and one for European.

If the domestic one was priced around €20 I'd consider subscribing however I have SS1 & 2 included as mobile tv with my Vodafone mobile package and for an extra €7 a month I could get the remaining SS channels.

It will be interesting to see how they do it.

citytillidie

Laois_Man wrote: »

I don't think this is going to bring their numbers up much. Fact is, they'll still be only allowed to show the same number of PL games live, they'll still have to show Brighton, Stoke, Bournemouth etc a certain number of times per season, and people will still want to watch their own club every time they play, which the new structure still won't provide. So as long as the technology with IPTV and the like stays ahead of them, they are screwed, until they make every teams PL game available every week, which isn't the license they currently have.

Max any team can be shown in the UK is 29, and Ireland 34, Ireland have it better than the rest of the EU as they get to choose what 3pm kick off they get while the rest all show the same 3pm kick off decided by the Premier League

Tigerandahalf

You would wonder are the premier league clubs prepared for possible future loss of revenue.

Wages and signing fees are gone through the roof. Unless the international rights fee increases the premier league could be in dodgy times in the not too distant future.

I also think there could be change in the uk. Right now huge amounts of their national sports are not on free to air tv. How long before a government decides that at least one soccer, rugby and cricket game has to be on free to air when the seasons are in full swing.

Huge amounts of young people must be taking up other interests if a pay tv package is not available at home.

There has already been warnings that BT's Champions League coverage in the uk has had very few viewers with itv's highlights programme getting more viewers. How long before the big advertisers like Coca Cola and McDonald's etc decide they are not getting value and pull their sponsorship of the Champions League and others.

If the future is tv through broadband and pay per views bodies like the premier league and uefa/fifa will be in a pickle as clubs couldn't be handing out long contracts if they didn't know what tv income they would have for the following year.

Maybe they just need to drop their prices and everyone follow.

citytillidie

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

You would wonder are the premier league clubs prepared for possible future loss of revenue.

Wages and signing fees are gone through the roof. Unless the international rights fee increases the premier league could be in dodgy times in the not too distant future.

I also think there could be change in the uk. Right now huge amounts of their national sports are not on free to air tv. How long before a government decides that at least one soccer, rugby and cricket game has to be on free to air when the seasons are in full swing.

Huge amounts of young people must be taking up other interests if a pay tv package is not available at home.

There has already been warnings that BT's Champions League coverage in the uk has had very few viewers with itv's highlights programme getting more viewers. How long before the big advertisers like Coca Cola and McDonald's etc decide they are not getting value and pull their sponsorship of the Champions League and others.

If the future is tv through broadband and pay per views bodies like the premier league and uefa/fifa will be in a pickle as clubs couldn't be handing out long contracts if they didn't know what tv income they would have for the following year.

Maybe they just need to drop their prices and everyone follow.

Well Coca Cola and McDonalds do not sponsor the Champions League and Mcdonalds have stop sponsoring the Olympics, as long as BT keep paying UEFA they will not care about the viewing figures

s3rtvdbwfj81ch

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

You would wonder are the premier league clubs prepared for possible future loss of revenue.

This is where having "official noodle partners" all over Asia comes in handy.

Agent Coulson

£18 a month in the UK probably means €30 a month here with the Sky Irish tax added.

SuperTortoise

Laois_Man wrote: »

I don't think this is going to bring their numbers up much. Fact is, they'll still be only allowed to show the same number of PL games live, they'll still have to show Brighton, Stoke, Bournemouth etc a certain number of times per season, and people will still want to watch their own club every time they play, which the new structure still won't provide. So as long as the technology with IPTV and the like stays ahead of them, they are screwed, until they make every teams PL game available every week, which isn't the license they currently have.

Eventually i think it'll come down to clubs selling their own tv rights, it may be directly from the club.

I have zero interest in watching Stoke kick seven lumps of ****e out of Bournemouth on a Monday night, with this new proposed schedule you'll still only get to watch your team every now and again which is not really an improvement on where we are at today. And of course even then you still have the big games split between BT and Sky which dilutes it further.

The only way i'd pay a subscription is if i can see my team when i choose, every game, for a fixed price per month/year.

Riesen_Meal

Agent Coulson wrote: »

£18 a month in the UK probably means €30 a month here with the Sky Irish tax added.

20 with today's rate of exchange so not that bad if it was going to be the case...

Assuming you will still need BT for other matches and will still miss certain 3PM kick offs it's a bit crappy I think...

ERG89

I just know they'll put WWE on the golf channel. :rolleyes:

Tigerandahalf

Agent Coulson wrote: »

£18 a month in the UK probably means €30 a month here with the Sky Irish tax added.

But what about the standard entertainment pack that you normally have to subscribe to. That is €30 I think. £18 will be €25 here so still €45 or so for a very limited package.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Having all these specialist channels is going to produce a whole pile of filler being shown.

What is going to be on the Golf channel on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, what'll be on the Cricket channel outside of the british summer (they lost the rights to Australian cricket last year).

If soccer is their main earner I am sure there are people paying the extra for sport they may not watch loads of just to watch the EPL and now these people can get away with paying less.

The people who aren't paying for sky are obviously finding a way to watch the EPL without paying for it so why would they opt to pay now if they ahve been getting away with it.

This could back fire as it screws the casual sports fan who likes a bit of everything as it looks ike people who like a variety of sport are being charged a premium for this because they ahve to subscribe to everything.

The thing they need to do is stop paying over the odds for rights to the EPL and lower their prices a bit.

Zebra3

ERG89 wrote: »

I just know they'll put WWE on the golf channel. :rolleyes:

Probably golf, darts, snooker and WWE on Sky Sports Faux.

yourdeadwright

I don't get why they don't bring out a Premier league app,
You get the app on your smart TV and pay the subscription for your club and get all there games,
Surely that is the future of sport on TV

DM_7

Sky must be afraid to lose the basic sky subs.

If they wanted to do it, I expect they could do a Netflix or WWE Network online only package for football or Golf. You only buy the football package, no need for a box or Dish. Until they go that route I expect they will keep losing subs and struggle to get new ones.

nice_guy80

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

You would wonder are the premier league clubs prepared for possible future loss of revenue.

Wages and signing fees are gone through the roof. Unless the international rights fee increases the premier league could be in dodgy times in the not too distant future.

I also think there could be change in the uk. Right now huge amounts of their national sports are not on free to air tv. How long before a government decides that at least one soccer, rugby and cricket game has to be on free to air when the seasons are in full swing.

Huge amounts of young people must be taking up other interests if a pay tv package is not available at home.

There has already been warnings that BT's Champions League coverage in the uk has had very few viewers with itv's highlights programme getting more viewers. How long before the big advertisers like Coca Cola and McDonald's etc decide they are not getting value and pull their sponsorship of the Champions League and others.

If the future is tv through broadband and pay per views bodies like the premier league and uefa/fifa will be in a pickle as clubs couldn't be handing out long contracts if they didn't know what tv income they would have for the following year.

Maybe they just need to drop their prices and everyone follow.

some clubs have great academies
other clubs just keep spunking crazy money on foreign talent

Lukker-

DM_7 wrote: »

Sky must be afraid to lose the basic sky subs.

If they wanted to do it, I expect they could do a Netflix or WWE Network online only package for football or Golf. You only buy the football package, no need for a box or Dish. Until they go that route I expect they will keep losing subs and struggle to get new ones.

They already have that. It's called NowTV. Although I think you still need to get a basic NowTV sub before you can add on any sport package.

murpho999

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

You would wonder are the premier league clubs prepared for possible future loss of revenue.

Wages and signing fees are gone through the roof. Unless the international rights fee increases the premier league could be in dodgy times in the not too distant future.

I also think there could be change in the uk. Right now huge amounts of their national sports are not on free to air tv. How long before a government decides that at least one soccer, rugby and cricket game has to be on free to air when the seasons are in full swing.

Huge amounts of young people must be taking up other interests if a pay tv package is not available at home.

There has already been warnings that BT's Champions League coverage in the uk has had very few viewers with itv's highlights programme getting more viewers. How long before the big advertisers like Coca Cola and McDonald's etc decide they are not getting value and pull their sponsorship of the Champions League and others.

If the future is tv through broadband and pay per views bodies like the premier league and uefa/fifa will be in a pickle as clubs couldn't be handing out long contracts if they didn't know what tv income they would have for the following year.

Maybe they just need to drop their prices and everyone follow.

How will clubs incomes drop when they have agreed contracts for the next few years?

Sky's hope with this is that their revenue increases as they get more people now to sign up who currently pay nothing so I think the clubs incomes will be fine.

Lukker-

murpho999 wrote: »

How will clubs incomes drop when they have agreed contracts for the next few years?

Sky's hope with this is that their revenue increases as they get more people now to sign up who currently pay nothing so I think the clubs incomes will be fine.

It could certainly hurt. If subs are down over 20% and it stays that way, you'd expect that to be reflected in the new deal.

5starpool

When is this new pricing due to be detailed and introduced? I see nothing about dates anywhere.

johnnyryan89

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I also like BT during the winter because it has soccer, Big Bash cricket, NCAA football.

At the end of the day you can't beat variety.

BT package is brillant and as you said the variety it provides is brillant. The 30 for 30 programs they do are excellent also.

murpho999

Lukker- wrote: »

It could certainly hurt. If subs are down over 20% and it stays that way, you'd expect that to be reflected in the new deal.

Premier league hold all the aces. They are the jewel in Sky's crown.

If Sky lose the Premier league then they are big trouble so they will pay what is required to keep it.

murpho999

5starpool wrote: »

When is this new pricing due to be detailed and introduced? I see nothing about dates anywhere.

I have asked Sky directly on the Talk to forum.

I will expect a politically correct "no details available" answer at first with new pricing to follow down the line.

murpho999

Lukker- wrote: »

They already have that. It's called NowTV. Although I think you still need to get a basic NowTV sub before you can add on any sport package.

No, you don't need any other package.

s8n

The problem is still the number of games. In the US as an example, you subscribe to NBC and you have access to all premiership games across TV and online. Sky & BT need to adopt this model or the future will be the clubs taking rights themselves via a season ticket

LuckyLloyd

s8n wrote: »

The problem is still the number of games. In the US as an example, you subscribe to NBC and you have access to all premiership games across TV and online. Sky & BT need to adopt this model or the future will be the clubs taking rights themselves via a season ticket

That's the real kicker. EVERY Premiership game is broadcast somewhere around the world. The idea that I can't access them all officially in Ireland is ****ing nonsense. People are tired of it, and they're going the streaming route to gain access to a service level officially available in other countries around the globe.

JimsAlterEgo

PL need to find a way to have every match legally watchable in every country to stop streaming and make that affordable.

Agent Coulson

Just look at the mark up in price they put on Now TV for Ireland compared to the UK there is no way we won't be screwed on the price here.

s8n

https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/27/nbc-sports-premier-league-pass/

nbc doing a season pass in US for $50 !!!!

Tusky

No chance it will be €18 a month for the football package. I bet it will be €35 + €8 for each additional package or something.

Richard Hillman

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Having all these specialist channels is going to produce a whole pile of filler being shown.
.

This is what it's all about. Instead of having to put recent programming on their channels they put on channels like Sky Sports Ashes or Sky Sports Darts. All they have to do is show their live event then fill it with archive footage from yesteryear.

There wasa also the ill-fated Sky Sports European Football. Then they lost the champions league and rebranded it to SS5, which just relays whatever live football matches from Scotland or Spain. They were too stubborn/proud to get rid of it.

Agent Coulson

Facebook dipping their toes in the market place in America now as well just announced that they will partner with Fox to show Champions League games for the 17/18 season on Facebook Live.

dor83

I don't think it will ever go to clubs negotiating individual deals because that will only hinder the league as a whole, the PL has it as a package so that the money can be distributed more evenly than if say Man Utd were getting 20-30 times what say Huddersfield were, it leads to a lack of competition in the league. That's why Italy have moved away from clubs negotiating individual contracts, the top clubs were getting €60-70m while the small clubs were getting only €2-3m.

As for why we can't get every game here, we are too small of a market so get lumped in with the UK broadcasting rights(apart from the one 3 o'clock game we get) and they can't show any football on a Saturday from 3-5 o'clock, the FA see it that people will stop going to lower league matches if they can watch what is considered a better standard of football on TV.

Luckycharms_74

s8n wrote: »

https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/27/nbc-sports-premier-league-pass/

nbc doing a season pass in US for $50 !!!!

Assume we will need VPN plus US address / CC for the sign up ??

BeepBeep67

dor83 wrote: »

I don't think it will ever go to clubs negotiating individual deals because that will only hinder the league as a whole, the PL has it as a package so that the money can be distributed more evenly than if say Man Utd were getting 20-30 times what say Huddersfield were, it leads to a lack of competition in the league. That's why Italy have moved away from clubs negotiating individual contracts, the top clubs were getting €60-70m while the small clubs were getting only €2-3m.

As for why we can't get every game here, we are too small of a market so get lumped in with the UK broadcasting rights(apart from the one 3 o'clock game we get) and they can't show any football on a Saturday from 3-5 o'clock, the FA see it that people will stop going to lower league matches if they can watch what is considered a better standard of football on TV.

Agree, but Sky could potentially resell the non category A games back to the clubs. So I/you could pay LFC a fiver to watch a game versus Southampton or someone at 3pm on a Saturday.

citytillidie

Lukker- wrote: »

They already have that. It's called NowTV. Although I think you still need to get a basic NowTV sub before you can add on any sport package.

Nope you do not have to have a basic Now Tv sub before getting sports, you have 3 sports options, 24 hours, 1 week or 1 month

Zebra3

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Just look at the mark up in price they put on Now TV for Ireland compared to the UK there is no way we won't be screwed on the price here.

Then people need to make a big deal of it on social media, embarrass Sky, and not pay it.

Fr Tod Umptious

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I don't get why they don't bring out a Premier league app,
You get the app on your smart TV and pay the subscription for your club and get all there games,
Surely that is the future of sport on TV

That cannot be done until the next rights contract is up for grabs, and then it's up to the PL to offer club based options as a package to be bid on rather than the TV/Media companies.

Harry Palmr

Is this mad or workable?

I'd simply pool the money and divide it out like it's done now however the clubs would be owners of their own games through individual contracts. So I pay X a year to watch Liverpool but some of that will go to the other 19 clubs, Liverpool will still be happy as that X a year will mean there will be more income from subscribers than is currently the case and every other club else will benefit. I would even go further and develop a Premier League owned channel which would have a match pick each Saturday and Sunday which everyone with a sub to any club channel can watch without additional payment - so as say a Man Utd subscriber you could still watch say Southampton v Brighton or Burnley v Huddersfield (this game would require viewers to wear a flat cap, mind) if it seemed like a good idea.

Basically I'm getting rid of any one (or two) companies having a mono/duopoly and allowing 20 companies to sell their games via a dedicated channel on multiple outlets/platforms which can show whatever else they choose to show that is produced for or owned by that club (or whatever rights they are willing to buy if it's say a documentary about a cup run made by some third party company years ago).

Obviously the worth of X would need to be calculated.

Sky moved too slow. Should have been doing something different a few years ago. Their model is completely outdated.

Off the Ball talking about this now

GSPfan

Why don't they just move all Premier League games to 6 oclock on a Saturday and Sunday and have all lower league games on at 3 or earlier. No clash and no worry of people staying at home to watch United instead of freezing their ass off in a stadium.

I would rather they played 5 matches on a Saturday and 5 on a Sunday at the same time and you can watch anyone you want. You can only watch one at a time anyway.

I love when the big teams are playing at the same time as hearing the scores during the match you are watching is so much fun. We only really get that on the last day.

citytillidie

GSPfan wrote: »

Why don't they just move all Premier League games to 6 oclock on a Saturday and Sunday and have all lower league games on at 3 or earlier. No clash and no worry of people staying at home to watch United instead of freezing their ass off in a stadium.

I would rather they played 5 matches on a Saturday and 5 on a Sunday at the same time and you can watch anyone you want. You can only watch one at a time anyway.

I love when the big teams are playing at the same time as hearing the scores during the match you are watching is so much fun. We only really get that on the last day.

What about people going to the games and public transport, yes it is good for TV viewers but not good for the match going fans