Sky Sports shows more sport than ever before
SKY SPORTS has delivered more hours of sport than ever in a milestone 2013, with a record 55,000 hours of sports shown across its six channels and Sky 3D.
Sky’s schedule offered some of the biggest sporting moments of 2013 including the British & Irish Lions, back-to-back Ashes series and Justin Rose’s US Open golf triumph.
There were record viewing figures for Sky Sports’ football coverage in their biggest season ever, which included 116 Premier League matches this season. Viewers can enjoy more live matches on Sky between now and the end of the season, including 40 fixtures still to be selected in March, April and May.
Sky Sports also offered more women’s sport than ever before, enjoyed a record year for its digital platforms, while over 30,000 young people participated in Sky Sports Living for Sport, for which David Beckham signed as ambassador.
Highlights for Sky Sports in 2013:
- Over 55,000 hours of sport across six channels and Sky 3D, up 12% year on year
- After the first 50 Premier League matches this season audience is up 6% on previous year
- A record 30m plus unique browsers a month on Sky Sports online, mobile and tablet devices
- Women’s sport scheduled on over 200 days, up 40% year on year
- Over 30 rights agreements including Euro 2016 and FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Football League, PRO12 rugby union plus US Open & ATP Tennis
- New programming including Saturday Night Football, FL72, Game Changers & Sportswomen
- A new five-year partnership with David Beckham
- New on-air talent including Jamie Carragher, Andrew Strauss and Paul McGinley
- The first live Ultra HD satellite broadcast; Stoke City v West Ham United in August
- Formula 1® in 3D for the first time ever – the 14th sport now shown on Sky 3D
- FIA Broadcaster of the Year crown for a second year running
Viewers can enjoy an equally busy schedule in 2014 with every match from the ICC World Twenty20, Euro 2016 qualifiers and the 40th Ryder Cup.
Barney Francis, managing director for Sky Sports, said: “We are offering more sport, more choice and more reasons to watch Sky Sports than ever before. Our viewers can enjoy unrivalled sport across six channels, our mobile and digital platforms and while 2013 was the best year yet, we’re sure 2014 will be even better.”
The most televised sports in 2013 on Sky Sports, including support programming, 3D and live coverage but excluding simulcasts and interactive programming, were:
Football - 8,462 hours
Golf - 5,072 hours
Cricket - 4,711 hours
F1® & Motorsport - 4,098 hours
Rugby union - 2,055 hours
Tennis - 1,348 hours
Rugby League - 1,145 hours
Boxing - 1,040 hours
All this was available live on TV, online and on mobile and table devices via Sky Go and the Sky Sports app for iPad.
FOOTBALL:
Sky Sports offered over 550 live matches from the international, European and domestic game with football programming screened every day in 2013. In August, Sky Sports launched its biggest ever season of Premier League football, with an unrivalled selection of fixtures, a new weekend schedule – including Saturday Night Football for its 5.30pm kick-off – and the addition of Jamie Carragher. Sky Sports will show another 58 Premier League fixtures before the end of the 2013/14 season, plus live Sky Bet Football League, UEFA Champions League, SPFL, Spanish football and more.
GOLF:
Viewers could enjoy over 200 golf tournaments from five continents on Sky Sports in 2013, including the Masters, US Open and US PGA Championship, Europe’s historic Solheim Cup triumph and over 30 events from both the European and PGA Tours. There was further women’s golf with three Majors – the Kraft Nabisco Championships, US Open and Evian Masters – as well as Ladies European Tour highlights. Next year all roads lead to Gleneagles where Europe face the US in The 2014 Ryder Cup with all three days live only on Sky Sports.
CRICKET:
There was live cricket on Sky Sports every month of 2013 including over 200 matches from Test, international and domestic calendars. In a momentous year, viewers could watch every ball as England won and lost the Ashes, while cricketing legends in Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis played their final Tests live on Sky Sports. In 2014, there will year-round live cricket coverage, including every match of the ICC World Twenty20, the 5th Ashes Test from Sydney, and all three T20 matches from the Women’s Ashes.
FORMULA 1®
Sky Sports F1® is the only place to watch every Formula 1® Grand Prix live and 2013 saw unrivalled coverage of the season, which included Barcelona testing in 3D, GP2 and GP3 plus extensive support programming and saw the channel crowned FIA’s best international broadcaster for the second year running. Plus, Race Control on the Sky Sports app for iPad gave viewers unrivalled access to analysis tools and camera angles. Every practice, qualifying and Grand Prix™ of the 2014 season will be live on Sky Sports, with ten exclusively live races including Monaco and Singapore.
RUGBY UNION:
Sky Sports’ coverage of the British & Lions Tour to Australia was their best yet, with Test audiences up 82% on the 2009 tour. There were over 280 live games of rugby union on Sky Sports across every week of 2013 including all 10 British and Irish Lions matches, 18 international Tests and 137 southern hemisphere games. In 2014, Sky Sports viewers can look forward to England, Ireland, France and Italy Autumn Internationals, PRO12 for the first time, international summer tours and exclusively live Heineken Cup, Amlin Challenge Cup, Greene King IPA Championship and LV= Cup rugby. Plus Southern Hemisphere rugby with The Rugby Championship and Super Rugby competitions.
TENNIS:
There were more than 800 hours of live tennis on Sky Sports last year, including every serve and volley of the US Open, all nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, the ATP World Tour Finals and selected ATP Tour 250 and 500 events. Plus, the post-match touchscreen was introduced for 2013 and used by the likes of Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer. In 2014, Andy Murray continues to make his injury comeback in the ATP World Tour, before exclusively live coverage of the 2014 US Open comes from Flushing Meadows ahead of what could be the final ATP World Tour Finals held at the 02.
RUGBY LEAGUE:
In 2013, Sky Sports’ 20-year partnership with the Super League went from strength-to-strength, with exclusively live coverage of over 70 Super League XVIII matches culminating with the Super League play-offs and Grand Final. Sky Sports were the first UK broadcaster to introduce a referee into the commentary box for rugby league coverage, and used wire-mounted Spider Cam for Magic Weekend for the first time this season. There was further live coverage of top rugby league competitions including the World Club Challenge and selected Challenge Cup rounds.
BOXING:
There were 20 world title fights on Sky Sports in 2013, including bouts for super-middleweight Carl Froch against Mikkel Kessler and George Groves on Sky Sports Box Office. In 2013, Sky Sports viewers were able to watch exclusively live debuts of British gold medallists Anthony Joshua MBE and Luke Campbell MBE. Sky Sports has confirmed at least 20 more events before 2016 as part of their partnership with Matchroom Boxing, while new show The Gloves Are Off will continue to attract the biggest names in boxing, including Joe Calzaghe, Chris Eubank, Amir Khan and David Haye.
WOMEN’S SPORT:
There was plenty of women’s sport to enjoy in 2013 including Europe’s historic Solheim Cup win in Colorado, international rugby and cricket and the Netball Super League. On Sky Sports News ‘Sportswomen’ took an in-depth look at the issues concerning women’s sport and showcased some of its lesser known stars. And in December Christine Ohuruogu was crowned athlete of the year, and the England netball team the team of year at the 2013 Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year Awards which was broadcast from Sky Studios.
SKY SPORTS NEWS:
Europe’s premier sports news service celebrated the start of the new football season with ‘92 Live’ a day of live outside broadcasts from all 92 football clubs across all four divisions. The channel also continued to provide round the clock coverage of breaking sports news, investigative analysis of the key issues in sport in Special Report and comprehensive coverage of the final days’ activity on both Transfer Deadline Days. Plus, Jeff Stelling and the boys continued to guide viewers through developments around the grounds during Gillette Soccer Saturday.
- ENDS -
