Sky Sports claims UK sports leadership in 2015


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Editor

| 09 January 2016




As part of what it calls a record breaking 2015 across all platforms, Sky Sports is claiming that it has, for the first time, become the leading digital destination for sport in the UK.



For its seven channels, the sports offering of the leading pay-TV channel says that it racked up over 60,000 hours of sports coverage in 2015 setting ‘unprecedented’ levels of viewership. Online video views were said to have increased by approximately 175%, totalling just under 300 million by December 2015. On-demand usage was also up, with a total of 20 million downloads of highlights, magazine and short-form programmes, up from just over 13 million at the same stage of 2014.

The most televised sports in 2015 including support programming and live coverage, but excluding interactive programming, were: football with 12,854 hours; cricket, 7,154 hours; golf, 6,708 hours; Formula 1 and motorsport, 4,721 hours; tennis, 2,035 hours; boxing (including PPV), 1,861 hours; darts, 1,483 hours; rugby union 1,466 hours.

Commenting on the performance, Barney Francis, Sky Sports Managing Director, said: "The way people consume sport is changing and so is our service. As well as a record-breaking year across our seven channels, Sky Sports has become the first choice for sport across digital outlets too. Sports fans want their fix wherever they are and at any time of the day, and our award-winning service across TV, mobile, online, Sky Go and NOW TV ensure this."