malcy93 wrote:Ginge wrote:The problem they have this year compared to last is it's on at a weekend.
That’s the problem for all sports channels too much at weekend and not enough to fill a 24/7 channel midweek.
Is why sports like tennis and cricket plus to a lesser degree golf are so popular for sports TV they will fill hours of that time period which would otherwise be repeats.
It’s why Sky dropped the Speedway Grand Prix aa even with 5 channels at the time it rated below 5 others live sports event in its Saturday time slot which was fixed by Polish TV where it gets the largest audience.
Hearn and Matchroom are familiar with this as they moved the Mosconi Cup exbo pool event to midweek from weekends when Sky threatened to drop it.
If BDO are serious with even getting interest from the likes of Premier Sports and Freesports they need to play the final rounds Tuesday to Thursday.
This of course only applies to sports channels as the more mainstream ones probably get a better audience from their weekday shows so wouldn’t drop for darts. Is why ITV4 say no to some sports as in the main their millionth rerun of Minder gets a bigger audience. That’s what Dave found. A rerun of Too Gear at virtually no cost to them (as once they have rights it’s unlimited repeats for as long as they hold them) is vastly more profitable than hosting, filming and broadcasting the BDO.
Whilst the problem of cluttered weekend schedules is indeed a problem, Premier Sports and Freesports aren't exactly scrambling round looking for something to show midweek evenings.
They've made a pretty heavy investment in ice hockey, both the NHL and also stuff like the Swedish League and KHL. The beauty of ice hockey to the broadcaster is they're able to show live games most evenings of the week for about 9 months a year (and delayed broadcasts pretty much as and when they feel like it).
I've no idea how much it costs them for these rights but they must be pretty serious about it. Apparently they renewed their NHL contract for another 5 years not that long ago, and paid a nice premium to make sure any NHL game they show live can't be viewed in this country on any official NHL internet stream, thus giving them full exclusivity.
Having spent that cash, I really don't see their top executives turning round and saying "you know what? I reckon we've made a mistake here and people would much rather watch Wesley Harms v Scott Baker instead"
Whilst your argument of holding events midweek if you want it broadcasting definitely has merit in general terms, I don't see Premier Sports / Freesports being interested any time in the near future.