Premier League viewing falls

Viewing of live Premier League matches has fallen significantly since the switch of broadcast contract from the BBC to Irish-based pay-TV company Setanta. According to local media reports an internal Setanta document claims that 70,000 plus subscribers with an average of 161,000 viewers are watching games at home. The figure rises sharply when those viewing in pubs and clubs are included, but 12,000 viewers are free trial homes that the company admits "inflate viewing". The figures are well below those that were achieved by the BBC when games were broadcast free-to-air. For example, the Rangers- Celtic derby in November shown on Setanta drew a peak of 450,000 viewers with only 100,000 said to be viewing from their own homes. BBC Scotland’s home-only average audience for a comparable fixture in late 2003 was 680,000. According to Dr Raymond Boyle of the Stirling Media Research Institute, Setanta’s viewing figures are substantially less than those delivered by BBC Scotland.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.