CO
Actually, even some of the channels that
are
run by the legacy analogue terrestrial broadcasters barely register on my radar.
Last time that I bothered checking (which, admittedly, was years ago), More4 and E4 seemed like they might as well be called "Come Dine 24" and "Big Bang 24" respectively. Once I have perceived a channel to be largely block repeats of a single programme that doesn't interest me, I am unlikely to give that channel a look ever again (and therefore will never find out if its content has since had a radical shake-up).
See also (UK(TV)) Gold, a.k.a. "Only Fools 24" (a sitcom which I never have, and never will, "get" the appeal of).
Last time that I bothered checking (which, admittedly, was years ago), More4 and E4 seemed like they might as well be called "Come Dine 24" and "Big Bang 24" respectively. Once I have perceived a channel to be largely block repeats of a single programme that doesn't interest me, I am unlikely to give that channel a look ever again (and therefore will never find out if its content has since had a radical shake-up).
See also (UK(TV)) Gold, a.k.a. "Only Fools 24" (a sitcom which I never have, and never will, "get" the appeal of).
TT
There are very few BARB-reported TV channels than reach less than one million viewers a month, and unfortunetly Lifetime was one of them, so it was living on borrowed time.
Ignoring the foreign language TV channels, those with the lowest reach currently include:
BET 957,000
Lifetime 920,000
Showcase 754,000
Foodxp 701,000
BT Sport ESPN 650,000
Vice 605,000
Court TV 474,000
Premier Sports 1 420,000
Ignoring the foreign language TV channels, those with the lowest reach currently include:
BET 957,000
Lifetime 920,000
Showcase 754,000
Foodxp 701,000
BT Sport ESPN 650,000
Vice 605,000
Court TV 474,000
Premier Sports 1 420,000
JF
I'm surprised Premier Sports is one of those low viewership channels, then again they operate a FTA channel called FreeSports and that's probably where most of the profit is from. I assume it becomes more viewers when a big game is on.
There are very few BARB-reported TV channels than reach less than one million viewers a month, and unfortunetly Lifetime was one of them, so it was living on borrowed time.
Ignoring the foreign language TV channels, those with the lowest reach currently include:
BET 957,000
Lifetime 920,000
Showcase 754,000
Foodxp 701,000
BT Sport ESPN 650,000
Vice 605,000
Court TV 474,000
Premier Sports 1 420,000
Ignoring the foreign language TV channels, those with the lowest reach currently include:
BET 957,000
Lifetime 920,000
Showcase 754,000
Foodxp 701,000
BT Sport ESPN 650,000
Vice 605,000
Court TV 474,000
Premier Sports 1 420,000
I'm surprised Premier Sports is one of those low viewership channels, then again they operate a FTA channel called FreeSports and that's probably where most of the profit is from. I assume it becomes more viewers when a big game is on.
RD
rdd
Founding member
We are going a bit off topic but I can’t see that the Pro14 contract is paying its way for Premier Sports, having to fully produce as host broadcaster 3-4 games on average each week over a 21 week season (pre COVID), if they are only getting 420,000 U.K. subscribers and if you think that in all likelihood a significant percentage of them will be based in England and the Pro14 is probably not top of their reasons for subscribing.
BT Sport ESPN is a different kettle of fish, it’s a niche channel, part of a broader package (of which it has three higher placed sister channels) and is taking the vast majority of its content from ESPN US or TSN.
BT Sport ESPN is a different kettle of fish, it’s a niche channel, part of a broader package (of which it has three higher placed sister channels) and is taking the vast majority of its content from ESPN US or TSN.
JO
When ITV closes, then you can say linear TV is not viable. Until then.... Please don't apply hyperbole across the whole medium based on the decision of one channel closing.
Is it hyperbole though?
The number of new channel launches in the UK has greatly slowed compared to 10 years ago when, before Sky had its strange queue system bought about by legacy boxes which lacked the capacity to store extra channels, 2-3 new channels would pop up on its EPG a week.
Other than live channels like GB News and UK News, would you now invest in a linear channel if it were not backed up by an extensive catch-up service perhaps containing content from other providers too?
I recently invested in a Sky Q box and, other than the 30-40 minutes after the kids have gone to bed and me & the missus have dinner, we don't watch linear TV really anymore. Even the kids - 5 years old and 8 years old - know their way around iPlayer and want to watch the programmes they want to watch more than watch CBeebies or CBBC live.
Now, of course, my case is anecdotal but, in this report from Campaign Magazine, "Samsung Ads’ Behind the Screens report shows streaming time jumped from 54% in January to 59% in June, moving ahead of linear (46% in January and 41% in June)...This is despite television watching time increasing both for streaming and linear services, but streaming popularity has grown more rapidly (up 36% compared with a rise of 11% for linear).
"While the vast majority of UK viewers (72%) still watch both linear and OTT, there is a growing percentage (14%) of viewers that are “streamers only”, the report added. On average, people in the UK were, as of June, streaming content for 43 minutes per day longer than linear TV."
We may be not there yet but the future Roger Darthwell envisages seems to be coming whether we like it or not.
johnnyboy
Founding member
I'm sorry that this is happening, not because I will miss the channel, but it's sad to see that linear TV is no longer seen as viable, this makes AETN UK as the fourth broadcaster to have closed channels recently after ViacomCBS, Discovery and Disney. Even though I'm also thinking that the economic downturn caused by coronavirus may have been a factor in it's closure
When ITV closes, then you can say linear TV is not viable. Until then.... Please don't apply hyperbole across the whole medium based on the decision of one channel closing.
Is it hyperbole though?
The number of new channel launches in the UK has greatly slowed compared to 10 years ago when, before Sky had its strange queue system bought about by legacy boxes which lacked the capacity to store extra channels, 2-3 new channels would pop up on its EPG a week.
Other than live channels like GB News and UK News, would you now invest in a linear channel if it were not backed up by an extensive catch-up service perhaps containing content from other providers too?
I recently invested in a Sky Q box and, other than the 30-40 minutes after the kids have gone to bed and me & the missus have dinner, we don't watch linear TV really anymore. Even the kids - 5 years old and 8 years old - know their way around iPlayer and want to watch the programmes they want to watch more than watch CBeebies or CBBC live.
Now, of course, my case is anecdotal but, in this report from Campaign Magazine, "Samsung Ads’ Behind the Screens report shows streaming time jumped from 54% in January to 59% in June, moving ahead of linear (46% in January and 41% in June)...This is despite television watching time increasing both for streaming and linear services, but streaming popularity has grown more rapidly (up 36% compared with a rise of 11% for linear).
"While the vast majority of UK viewers (72%) still watch both linear and OTT, there is a growing percentage (14%) of viewers that are “streamers only”, the report added. On average, people in the UK were, as of June, streaming content for 43 minutes per day longer than linear TV."
We may be not there yet but the future Roger Darthwell envisages seems to be coming whether we like it or not.