SKY is reportedly considering replacing Sky Sports 1,2,3,4 and 5 in favour of specific themed sports channels.
The change will mean cheaper viewing packages and represents a big shake-up in pay-per-view.
New themed channels will be akin to Sky’s existing dedicated Formula One channel.
The Guardian reports that football will get two channels, and there will be one each for cricket and golf.
Elsewhere, Sky Sports Arena will feature rugby and tennis.
Many of of these matches featured less popular clubs, while the relegation of clubs with relatively large fan bases such as Newcastle United and Aston Villa didn’t help either.
Nor did BBC’s live Rio Olympics coverage last summer.
Sky’s new initiative is obviously to its bolster its user baser – and grab viewers who don’t currently have pay-TV – or rely on Freeview, for instance – with cheap options like its Now TV set-top box.
At the moment viewers fork out up to £49.50 for the cheapest sports package.
The latest plans could see Sky charge just £18 for its cheapest deal.
Sky viewing figures are said to have suffered over the past year and that’s been put down to airing more games per season.
Sources indicate that Sky’s Now TV internet service broke the company’s monthly sports subscription model by offering sports channels on a pay-as-you-go basis for the first time.
Now TV sports day passes have proved popular for fans looking to dip in for one-off big events (£7).
But a one-off monthly pass at £34 remains a big outlay for those reluctant to sign up for traditional pay-TV packages.
The Sky Sports Mix channel, which Sky uses to showcase sport to its wider subscriber base by offering it free to basic package holders, will be continued.
Said Richard Broughton, a director at Ampere Analysis, gave his assessment of Sky’s possible changes:
“More and more Freeview households are starting to spend on pay-TV in some way, 45 per cent take a subscription service but it is mostly Netflix or Amazon,” he said.
“Reducing the monthly TV package cost could also allow them to reduce the Now TV monthly pass cost to attract more occasional viewers without cannibalising the higher-value satellite TV base.”
