By Sportingintelligence 24 July 2012 David Beckham’s omission from the British football team for London 2012 polarised opinion but the former England captain is sure to take centre stage in some capacity at some point during London 2012. If Beckham had been in Team GB, perhaps a whole swathe of seats at the Millennium Stadium […]

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 20 March 2012 The global head of sports content at YouTube has ruled out any bid for live rights to show Premier League football matches now or in the foreseeable future despite describing English top-flight football as “a wonderfully powerful attractor of viewers”. In an […]

By Nick Harris SJA Internet Sports Writer of the Year 6 February 2012 The first ‘free to air’ Premier League football match broadcast in the UK in the 20-year history of the League, between Manchester City and Fulham on Saturday, had an average audience of 903,000 viewers, and a ‘reach’ of 1.97m viewers, Sportingintelligence can […]

By Sportingintelligence 14 November 2011 It was supposed to be a landmark game, moved controversially to a midday kick-off in Spain to help Real Madrid reach a massive 7pm prime-time Saturday night audience in China. Jose Mourinho’s side duly kicked off against Osasuna at 12.00pm in Spain on 6 November, winning the game 7-1, and […]

By Nick Harris 8 February 2011 Super Bowl XLV on Sunday evening set an all-time TV viewing record in America as an average audience of 111m people watched the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, beating the previous record (the 2010 Super Bowl, 106.5m) into second place. But that isn’t the only positive news […]

By Gary Hopkins 26 June 2010 A historic day in American soccer lies ahead today with the possibility that long-standing TV viewing records for the sport in the USA will tumble. When the USA play Ghana today at 2.30pm Eastern Time on a Saturday afternoon (7.30m in the UK and 8.30pm is South Africa), and […]

By Nick Harris 17 June 2010 Record TV ratings in some key markets suggest the 2010 World Cup is on course to be a contender as the most-watched single-sport event in history. For that, much will depend on the numbers in the most populous nations, including China (not represented but tuning in) Brazil and the […]

15 April 2010 The Premier League will take legal action to overturn Ofcom’s decision to force BSkyB to offer its sports channels to rivals at cheaper prices. A statement on the League’s website today, the League’s chief executive Richard Scudamore says: “Having taken time to study the 655 page Ofcom decision in respect to its Pay-TV […]

By Nick Harris 31 March 2010 The Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Scudamore, has lambasted the decision by Ofcom, the UK communications regular, to force BSkyB to offers its sports channels to rivals at cheaper prices, fixed by Ofcom. Ofcom’s decision can be seen in detail on its website, where the key point is: “Ofcom […]

29 March 2010 ESPN will add exclusive coverage of the NFL’s ‘Monday Night Football’ to its TV schedules in the UK from September. Viewers of ESPN – which has been growing its pay-TV base by acquiring live Premier League rights in recent times – will be able to see 17 games per season. More here […]