Pay TV phase three document - Stakeholders - Ofcom

Pay TV phase three document – non-confidential version
4.107 There is a significant amount of live golf found on other Sky channels, Setanta and
FTA which could be considered a close substitute for golf on Sky Sports 1. For
example:
78
� Sky Sports 2 contains coverage of the European PGA Tour. It also broadcasts
events from the World Golf Championships.
� Sky Sports 3 also contains European PGA events and some US Open coverage,
European Tour events and events from the World Golf Championships.
� Sky Sports Xtra contains European PGA events and a small amount of European
Tour coverage and events from the World Golf Championships.
� Setanta contains a significant amount of US PGA golf.
� FTA channels have some important golf content such as the European PGA,
European Tour golf, the Open and The US Masters.
4.108 Rugby Union is considered very important by 22%-37% 118 of subscribers who watch
sport at least once a week. The total rights value is about £[ � ]m 119 . Sky Sports 1
shows 18% of Heineken Cup matches and 44% of Guinness Premiership matches.
The Heineken Cup contains the top European teams, and the Guinness Premiership
contains the top England teams. Both events are tournaments played throughout the
season.
4.109 There are a range of channels that contain content that could substitute for top flight
rugby union played throughout the season:
� Sky Sports 2 broadcasts the majority of Heineken Cup games (78%) and
Guinness Premiership games (53%).
� There is also some rugby union found on FTA. This includes the highly valued
but brief Six Nations (scheduled over five weekends each year), a number of
England international matches, Magners League rugby and the EDF Energy Cup.
4.110 Rugby league is considered very important by 17% 120 of subscribers who watch
sport at least once a week. The total value of rights is about £[ � ]m 121 . The key
rugby league content on Sky Sports 1 is coverage of Super League of which about
40% is on the channel.
4.111 Several other channels also broadcast rugby league:
� Sky Sports 2 broadcasts about 30% of Sky’s Super League coverage.
� Sky Sports 3 broadcasts about 30% of Sky’s Super League coverage.
118 Ofcom Sports conjoint research, See Annex 10 of Ofcom’s September 2008 for details.
119 See Appendix 3 of Annex 6 for details.
120 Ofcom Sports conjoint research, See Annex 10 of Ofcom’s September 2008 for details.
121 See Appendix 3 of Annex 6 for details.