Each Wednesday we take a look at the world of the Irish and international sports media, the stories, the numbers and the organisations that are, more than ever before, our window on the world of sport…

 

RUGBY RATINGS HIT TEN YEAR HIGH

ITV has reported that an average of 8.7 million viewers tuned into last Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations victory by Scotland over England.

That is up on the 8.6 million that tuned in when the game was shown on the BBC last year.

ITV say that it is the highest figure for the fixture in a decade and that it was particularly strong in the 16-34 age group with 46 per cent of those watching TV at the time tuning in.

The figures were not so strong in France with 4.1 million tuning in to see a facile victory over Italy, down from 5.8 million the previous year.

No figures are available yet for the viewership of the Wales Vs Ireland game on Sunday but we will update here when they are.

This is the last year of the current broadcast rights contract. The figures will be more keenly watched than ever before with a major investment from CVC and a potential move behind a TV paywall coming around the corner.

Join us tomorrow for an in-depth look at the benefits and drawbacks of private equity investment in sport.

SUPERBOWL VIEWING FIGURES DIP

The shift from linear to streaming is one that all rights holders and broadcast partners are having to deal with and learn as it develops.

Sunday night’s Superbowl win for the Tampa Bat Buccaneers was watched on CBS by 91.63 million people in the US.

That figure is down eight per cent on 2019 when the game was shown on Fox Sports.

It is the lowest figure recorded on mainstream TV since 2007 and, with an audience share of 38.2, the first time since 1990 that fewer than 40 per cent of households watching TV at the time were tuned in.

On the upside, there were 5.7 million streams recorded on CBS, up 65 per cent on a year ago. That was despite a number of technical issues in the early stages of the game.

It’s only six per cent of the total audience but with the enhanced engagement and data that is available from such viewing, and the trends moving only one way, we expect that number to soar over the next few years.

 

WATCH LOI

We have written elsewhere today about the viewing figures for last season’s Watch LOI project on the live streaming of games from the SSE Airtricity League.

See our take on the numbers, what they mean and what they say about the fan base of the domestic game. Behind the Numbers of WATCHLOI

 

Sport for Business Partners

Sport for Business Media Members