Since the Premier League restart average audiences are +45% higher than the pre-lockdown season average

Will Wade Mills — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 11:44:41 +0000

Since the restart average audiences for the PL are +45% higher than the pre-lockdown season average

Everton vs Liverpool became the biggest Premier League game ever with 4.96m viewers (5.50m peak), the 2nd biggest Sky programme ever behind Game Of Thrones which achieved 5.85m.

The winners of the Premier League may have been crowned, but the viewing public are the real winners with football almost every day. Since the restart average audiences for the PL are 2.31m, +45% higher than the pre-lockdown season average. The PL restart day (17th June) saw the Sky Sports portfolio record its biggest daily share of commercial viewing for Men 16-34 since 2010. The return to sports has seen Sky Media SOCV rise above 40% with 16-34s rising to almost 44%.

Everton vs Liverpool became the biggest Premier League game ever with 4.96m viewers (5.50m peak), the 2nd largest audience on Sky ever behind Game Of Thrones which achieved 5.85m. The Merseyside derby also had an average female audience of 1.44m, and female viewing to PL has gone up +51% from 429k per match pre-Covid to 648k for the restart games. The game was also shown on Sky’s free to air channel Pick achieving its highest programme ever with a 1.42m. The second biggest Sky game was Brighton v Man U peaking at 3.58m followed by Spurs V Man U peaking at 3.46m. Viewers have had the option to watch matches with or without Sky Sports Crowds (stadium crowd sounds) – nearly 80% of viewers are choosing to watching with stadium sound (77%) with 23% watching with natural sound.

Following the return of the Premier League, Sky Sports Football on YouTube is averaging 3.5m daily video views, up +43% against the daily average before lockdown (2.4m). The best performing day has seen 5.7m YT views with six highlight clips achieving over 1 million views after 2 days. Liverpool v Crystal Palace had 1.25m views after 2 days, while Man City V Arsenal has now reached 1.54m views after 7 days. Sky Sports Premier League online is averaging 177k daily video views, up +59% against the daily average of the season pre-lockdown (111k).

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Sky Sports Will Show 64 Live Premier League Games and Make 25 Available Free To Air

Sky Media — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 16:07:38 +0000

Sky Sports will show 64 live Premier League games and make 25 available free to air

The Premier League season will provisionally restart on Wednesday 17th June, and as the UK’s leading football broadcaster, Sky will make 25 games available ‘free-to-air’ for everyone in the UK to enjoy.

The Premier League season will provisionally restart on Wednesday 17th June, and as the UK’s leading football broadcaster, Sky will make 25 games available ‘free-to-air’ for everyone in the UK to enjoy, including Everton v Liverpool on the opening weekend.

64 live games on Sky Sports from the provisional restart date of 17^th June
25 games to be made freely available
New Sky Sports digital innovations also planned to enhance the fan experience

With 92 Premier League matches of the current season remaining, Sky Sports subscribers will be able to watch 39 exclusive live games with a further 25 available more widely via Sky’s free-to-air ‘Pick’ Channel and simulcast on Sky Sports, allowing the whole nation to be part of the return of live sport. Please see the list of games below, which also includes the recently announced additional games:

Wed June 17: Aston Villa vs Sheff Utd – 6pm, Sky Sports

Wed June 17: Man City vs Arsenal – 8.15pm, Sky Sports

Fri June 19: Norwich vs Southampton – 6pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Fri June 19: Tottenham vs Man Utd – 8.15pm , Sky Sports

Sat June 20: West Ham vs Wolves – 5.30pm, Sky Sports

Sun June 21: Newcastle vs Sheff Utd – 2pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Sun June 21: Aston Villa vs. Chelsea – 4.15pm, Sky Sports

Sun June 21: Everton vs Liverpool – 7pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Mon June 22: Man City vs Burnley – 8pm, Sky Sports

Tue June 23: Leicester vsBrighton – 6pm, Sky Sports

Tue June 23: Tottenham vs West Ham – 8.15pm, Sky Sports

Wed June 24: Man Utd vs Sheff Utd – 6pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Wed June 24: Liverpool vs Crystal Palace – 8.15pm, Sky Sports

Thu June 25: Southampton vs Arsenal – 6pm, Sky Sports

Thu June 25: Burnley vs Watford – 6pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Sun June 28: Watford vs Southampton – 4.30pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Tue June 30: Brighton vs Man Utd, 8.15pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Wed July 1: Everton vs Leicester – 6pm, Sky Sports

Wed July 1: Bournemouth vs Newcastle – 6pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Wed July 1: West Ham vs Chelsea, 8.15pm, Sky Sports

Thu July 2: Sheff Utd vs Tottenham – 6pm, Sky Sports

Thu July 2: Man City vs Liverpool – 8.15pm, Sky Sports

Sat July 4: Leicester City vs Crystal Palace – 3pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Sat July 4: Wolves vs Arsenal – 5.30pm, Sky Sports

Sat July 4: Chelsea vs Watford – 8pm, Sky Sports

Sun July 5: Burnley vs Sheffield Utd – 12pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Sun July 5: Newcastle vs West Ham – 2.15pm, Sky Sports

Sun July 5: Liverpool vs Aston Villa – 4.30pm, Sky Sports

Mon July 6: Tottenham vs Everton – 8pm, Sky Sports

Tue July 7: Crystal Palace vs Chelsea – 6pm, Sky Sports

Tue July 7: Watford vs Norwich – 6pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Tue July 7: Arsenal vs Leicester – 8.15pm, Sky Sports

Wed July 8: Sheffield Utd vs Wolves – 6pm, Sky Sports

Wed July 8: Brighton vs Liverpool – 8.15pm, Sky Sports

Thurs July 9: Bournemouth vs Tottenham – 6pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Thurs July 9: Aston Villa vs Man Utd – 8.15pm, Sky Sports

Sat July 11: Sheffield Utd vs Chelsea – 5.30pm, Sky Sports

Sat July 11: Brighton vs Man City – 8pm, Sky Sports

Sun July 12: Wolves vs Everton – 12pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Sun July 12: Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace – 2.15pm, Sky Sports

Sun July 12: Tottenham vs Arsenal – 4.30pm, Sky Sports

Sun July 12: Bournemouth vs Leicester – 7pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

Mon July 13: Man Utd vs Southampton – 8pm, Sky Sports, Sky Pick

To celebrate the return of the Premier League, Sky Sports will also launch a host of innovative new features and updates to give fans an even more immersive experience and share the moments live with family and friends on virtual platforms.

Since live football games were postponed in early March, Sky has supported the Premier League’s ambition to restart when Government health and safety advice allowed.

Sky CEO and EVP, UK and Europe, Stephen van Rooyen said: “The return of live sport is a big moment for the country, and we want the nation to join us. Sky has partnered with the Premier League and its clubs for nearly thirty years, and the strength of our partnership has never been more important. Our commitment to showing 25 matches ‘free to air’ for the first time in the history of Sky Sports recognises the unique times we are in, and our desire to play our part.

We have developed some terrific new innovations to give football fans the very best experience of watching live sport, when going to the match with family and friends isn’t possible, and we look forward to sharing these with football fans shortly.”

Managing Director, Sky Sports, Rob Webster said: “Sky Sports strives to be sport’s best partner, and our desire to connect football fans to more of what they love has never been stronger. We can’t wait to bring football back for the nation.”