POLL: Should The Premier League Be Shown On Free-To-Air Television?
May 26, 2015
With another Premier League season having come to an end, the viewing figures show that once again more and more people are tuning in. The highest rated game of the season was October’s showdown between Manchester United and eventual champions Chelsea, with 3.1 million people tuning in.
That is a modest increase on the 2.7m who tuned in to the highest rated game of the 2013-14 season; Liverpool v Chelsea.
The continued rise in viewers may go some way to explaining why the Premier League was able to sell the TV rights in the UK to Sky and BT Sport for a combined £5.1billion – an increase of 70 per cent on the previous deal.
But some argue that this deal will end up hurting consumers most of all, with package subscriptions rising to cover the cost of the price increase.
This season has already seen a few protests over rising ticket prices. Could the same happen over rising TV costs?