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Low Chinese pay TV figures spark Premier League concerns
England - 15 February, 2008
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China's WinTv has not brought in the subscribers that the English Premier League clubs anticipated.
The pay-TV broadcaster holds the league's rights in China, but gets as few as 10,000 viewers for matches. That figures surprises league officials, who believed the number should be higher in a nation with more than one billion people.
WinTv, which has the rights through 2009-2010 for USD 50 million over a three-year period, also has been plagued by high prices and technical difficulties. Its subscriber base is only around 20,000.
ESPN Star Sports held the previous rights, along with state broadcaster CCTV. Those groups had audiences of more than 10 million people.
The Premier League itself did not seem to panic, despite rumours that at least one of its top clubs is not happy with the arrangement.
"Different clubs raise different concerns all the time," the league said to the Independent. "If the market grows, concerns will be alleviated. We're only six months into a three-year contract.
"Maybe the pay-TV market in China is not as developed as we thought, in which case next time we have the flexibility to change. It could be that next time in China we will go for a mass viewing model."
The pay-TV broadcaster holds the league's rights in China, but gets as few as 10,000 viewers for matches. That figures surprises league officials, who believed the number should be higher in a nation with more than one billion people.
WinTv, which has the rights through 2009-2010 for USD 50 million over a three-year period, also has been plagued by high prices and technical difficulties. Its subscriber base is only around 20,000.
ESPN Star Sports held the previous rights, along with state broadcaster CCTV. Those groups had audiences of more than 10 million people.
The Premier League itself did not seem to panic, despite rumours that at least one of its top clubs is not happy with the arrangement.
"Different clubs raise different concerns all the time," the league said to the Independent. "If the market grows, concerns will be alleviated. We're only six months into a three-year contract.
"Maybe the pay-TV market in China is not as developed as we thought, in which case next time we have the flexibility to change. It could be that next time in China we will go for a mass viewing model."
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