Sky Sports are Taking the Piss Thread

[kingjoey]

39 minutes ago, NorthernLights said:

*Bump*

The selection of fixtures for the post split fixtures are as boring, uninspired and predictable as expected.

I would disagree. The selection is more boring, uninspired and predictable than I thought it would be. Dreadful.

[accies1874]

It's a predictable shambles. The split is the best part of the Scottish football calendar yet Sky have consistently succeeded in making even it boring. 

[Shuggie_Murray7]

Time to just end all TV deals and move to a PPV streaming model.

Not one single broadcaster currently operating give a single f**k about Scottish football outside of the two arsecheeks.

Just thank your lucky stars you can tune into Sky on Saturday night to watch fucking West Brom vs Norwich.

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

11 minutes ago, Shuggie_Murray7 said:

Time to just end all TV deals and move to a PPV streaming model.

Not one single broadcaster currently operating give a single f**k about Scottish football outside of the two arsecheeks.

Just thank your lucky stars you can tune into Sky on Saturday night to watch fucking West Brom vs Norwich.

The club's won't vote for it. 

The start up cost and running of it is probably prohibitive. Especially if they're aiming for something of a higher standard than the COVID service

If it was a share revenue system at £10 a month then they'd need something like 500,000 subscribers every month to break even v TV deal. 

If it was every man for themselves, clubs run their own service then it's likely the smaller clubs wouldn't vote for it either due to it working out worse for them than than under current TV deal.

Edited April 25, 2023 by SJFCtheTeamForMe

[Richey Edwards]

The split is SHIT

Dreamt up by a TIT

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

2 minutes ago, Richey Edwards said:

The split is SHIT

Dreamt up by a TIT

Been enjoyable for fans who've been involved in it over the years...

[lennyzer0]

 

3 minutes ago, Richey Edwards said:

The split is SHIT

Dreamt up by a TIT

If we're stuck with a 12 team league, then the split is actually a reasonably exciting way to end the season - but the way that SKY picks the games makes it much worse for tv viewers.

Taking Rangers away to Hibs instead of Aberdeen away to Hearts is just a joke.

[EpicMike]

Do the viewing figures really support this model? Do more people really tune in for an OF dead rubber and perfunctory win than a European or relegation battle with some actual stakes?

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

Every time i look at their fixtures I'm reminded why I don't have Sky.  Any potentially interesting game avoided

[SJFCtheTeamForMe]

5 minutes ago, EpicMike said:

Do the viewing figures really support this model? Do more people really tune in for an OF dead rubber and perfunctory win than a European or relegation battle with some actual stakes?

I imagine so. 

Sky only pay the TV deal for those games. Premier Sports whole business model is based around showing their games. 

The majority support those two teams and the majority of their supporter turn their nose up towards every other team. "I'm not watching that shite"

Edited April 25, 2023 by SJFCtheTeamForMe

[Desp]

I would imagine the number of fans/tv viewers who support Celtic & Rangers is greater than the combined number who support every other club in Scotland.  So in terms of aiming for viewing figures, it's just easier to go for jobbers vs Celtic/Rangers than to pick the actual best game of the weekend.  I'd be keen, though, to see what the viewing figures for Hearts v Ross County were on Saturday, compared to the usual weekly figures for a Celtic or Rangers away game.

There's also the fact SKY just don't give a shit about Scottish Football.  It's a filler and that's it to them.  Even things like putting the Aberdeen v Rangers game on Sunday on at exactly the same kick-off time as an F.A Cup Semi Final on council telly.  Not even to have a bit of thought and shift the kick-off time 15 minutes either way, thus giving a small percentage of viewers who are watching BBC1  the opportunity to shift over to the Scottish game for 10/15 minutes while it's half-time at Wembley which might boost the viewing figures for a part of the game. 

[Jimmain]

3 minutes ago, Desp said:

I would imagine the number of fans/tv viewers who support Celtic & Rangers is greater than the combined number who support every other club in Scotland.  So in terms of aiming for viewing figures, it's just easier to go for jobbers vs Celtic/Rangers than to pick the actual best game of the weekend.  I'd be keen, though, to see what the viewing figures for Hearts v Ross County were on Saturday, compared to the usual weekly figures for a Celtic or Rangers away game.

There's also the fact SKY just don't give a shit about Scottish Football.  It's a filler and that's it to them.  Even things like putting the Aberdeen v Rangers game on Sunday on at exactly the same kick-off time as an F.A Cup Semi Final on council telly.  Not even to have a bit of thought and shift the kick-off time 15 minutes either way, thus giving a small percentage of viewers who are watching BBC1  the opportunity to shift over to the Scottish game for 10/15 minutes while it's half-time at Wembley which might boost the viewing figures for a part of the game. 

They don't care. f**k Sky and all who sail in them...wouldn't have it in ma flat if ye fuckin' paid me

Edited April 25, 2023 by Jimmain

[Shuggie_Murray7]

4 minutes ago, Desp said:

I would imagine the number of fans/tv viewers who support Celtic & Rangers is greater than the combined number who support every other club in Scotland.  So in terms of aiming for viewing figures, it's just easier to go for jobbers vs Celtic/Rangers than to pick the actual best game of the weekend.  I'd be keen, though, to see what the viewing figures for Hearts v Ross County were on Saturday, compared to the usual weekly figures for a Celtic or Rangers away game.

There's also the fact SKY just don't give a shit about Scottish Football.  It's a filler and that's it to them.  Even things like putting the Aberdeen v Rangers game on Sunday on at exactly the same kick-off time as an F.A Cup Semi Final on council telly.  Not even to have a bit of thought and shift the kick-off time 15 minutes either way, thus giving a small percentage of viewers who are watching BBC1  the opportunity to shift over to the Scottish game for 10/15 minutes while it's half-time at Wembley which might boost the viewing figures for a part of the game. 

I'm not entirely convinced by that argument.

It can;t be as easy as just picking the teams with the biggest fan bases and firing them on telly. Down south, they don't only show Man Utd/Liverpool/Arsenal games every week.

They're showing Blackburn vs Burnley tonight. Sheff Utd vs West Brom is on tomorrow. They even have Rotherham vs Cardiff on Thursday. On Monday we've got Leicester vs Everton.

I'd speculate that the majority of British football fans don't give a flying f**k about those games, but Sky are showing them.

They simply treat the Scottish game with utter contempt.

To not show the last or the next Edinburgh derby is just ridiculous.

[Insert Amusing Pseudonym]

There's an, admittedly slim, chance that the last Edinburgh derby could be a shoot-out for 3rd where the loser finishes 6th - instead we'll get Celtics u18 v Aberdeen

[accies1874]

3 hours ago, Shuggie_Murray7 said:

I'm not entirely convinced by that argument.

It can;t be as easy as just picking the teams with the biggest fan bases and firing them on telly. Down south, they don't only show Man Utd/Liverpool/Arsenal games every week.

They're showing Blackburn vs Burnley tonight. Sheff Utd vs West Brom is on tomorrow. They even have Rotherham vs Cardiff on Thursday. On Monday we've got Leicester vs Everton.

I'd speculate that the majority of British football fans don't give a flying f**k about those games, but Sky are showing them.

They simply treat the Scottish game with utter contempt.

To not show the last or the next Edinburgh derby is just ridiculous.

I'm not sure if the Premier League have any restrictions similar to the Premiership's 4/5 games per ground one, but having a larger pool to pick from (at least three out of 10 games every matchday) means they can pick games involving smaller teams without snubbing all of the biggest ones. I don't watch much of the English lower leagues until this point of the season so I don't really know what their deal's like. They do seem to get bumper midweek and bank holiday coverage which is made possible by their fixture schedule and, again, larger pool. 

Sky's Scottish football coverage is abysmal though, and I agree that only broadcasting our second-biggest fixture once across a season is crazy. I love it when we get a live game between diddy sides, especially now that my team's out of the division, but Sky have seriously messed up broadcasting the most dramatic part of the season in favour of the same old.

[Theyellowbox]

18 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

I'm not sure if the Premier League have any restrictions similar to the Premiership's 4/5 games per ground one, but having a larger pool to pick from (at least three out of 10 games every matchday) means they can pick games involving smaller teams without snubbing all of the biggest ones. I don't watch much of the English lower leagues until this point of the season so I don't really know what their deal's like. They do seem to get bumper midweek and bank holiday coverage which is made possible by their fixture schedule and, again, larger pool. 

Sky's Scottish football coverage is abysmal though, and I agree that only broadcasting our second-biggest fixture once across a season is crazy. I love it when we get a live game between diddy sides, especially now that my team's out of the division, but Sky have seriously messed up broadcasting the most dramatic part of the season in favour of the same old.

The other factor is that the other clubs have enough clout to call out Sky in England if they did concentrate solely on a few teams. We don't have that in Scotland. On the flip side, the clubs down there don't want too many home games themselves disrupted. I'm sure Leeds 3/4 seasons ago had a massive toys out of the pram moment around the number of their championship games moved by Sky.

Up here, I always think there is a base to how low any game likely goes as pubs etc will have a screen on say Sky Sports Football all the time. Equally folk like me would rather watch Motherwell v Ross County than say Celtic v Livi. If I do watch Rangers or Celtic on Sky, more often than not, I switch off once they go one, two up tbh. I suspect even a Celtic fan might lose interest when they are 2,3 up away to a 'diddy' team and coasting.

Where I do see the argument from sky will be that the viewing figures probably don't lie. I'm sure there will be loads of Celtic fans not at an away game, whereas I doubt there would be huge amount of St Johnstone fans at home and not at the game. Not sure that would hold if they were showing say Aberdeen, Hibs or Hearts away at each other...

[Dons_1988]

Sky have never made any secret of what they want from the tv deal. 

The clubs are happy for them to do it. Be angry at the clubs. 

[RandomGuy.]

6 hours ago, SJFCtheTeamForMe said:

If it was a share revenue system at £10 a month then they'd need something like 500,000 subscribers every month to break even v TV deal. 

Is that figure that unrealistic though?

Make it SPFL TV, all four divisions are covered and all fans have access. Something like £10 a month for your club, £15 a month for your division, £20 a month for full access.

Average attendance wise across the 4 divisions you get about 180,000 as match goers. Obviously some people will be getting counted twice but thats likely more than offset by people that dont go to games who'd buy the service.

Over a month thats 720,000. Add in overseas fans and you could probably safely say it would have ~800,000 subscribers a month.

At worst youd be earning £8m a month, league season is 9 months roughly? So £72m a season.

Current deal is £37.5m a season.

Not a clue how much it would cost to run the whole thing but is it going to be £30m?. Tried to see how much the EFL pay to run iFollow but seems its done through Sky in some way.

Pointless speculating anyway, we're tied to Sky until 2029 now anyway. 

Edited April 25, 2023 by RandomGuy.

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

Just got an email that you can get 12 months of Viaplay for £59.  Even at that price I'm not convinced it's great value and weighing up subscribing.

[lubo_blaha]

6 hours ago, Shuggie_Murray7 said:

I'm not entirely convinced by that argument.

It can;t be as easy as just picking the teams with the biggest fan bases and firing them on telly. Down south, they don't only show Man Utd/Liverpool/Arsenal games every week.

They're showing Blackburn vs Burnley tonight. Sheff Utd vs West Brom is on tomorrow. They even have Rotherham vs Cardiff on Thursday. On Monday we've got Leicester vs Everton.

I'd speculate that the majority of British football fans don't give a flying f**k about those games, but Sky are showing them.

They simply treat the Scottish game with utter contempt.

To not show the last or the next Edinburgh derby is just ridiculous.

They’re only showing those championship games because BT have the EPL midweek games. 

Similarly for this weekend, Dons vs Rangers was at 4.30pm so it could be up against the FA Cup semi which they didn’t have the rights to.

When the English league started later due to covid, they couldn’t get enough of the Scottish games, for a couple of weeks.

Scottish football is nothing more than a gap filler for them. All we get are the cheeks away from home at a weekend lunchtime, apart from the rare occasions when they don’t have the EPL to show. There can’t be many leagues where the televised games are arranged completely around the convenience of a foreign league and audience.