Young people switch off TV sport as competition for attention intensifies

Young people are switching off from TV sport as part of a drop in average audiences of nearly a tenth in six years, analysts have claimed.

The findings come amid concerns surrounding BT and Sky about a sharp decline in football audience this season.

Research by Ampere Analysis found that 18 to 24-year-olds, the younger end of the so-called “millennial” age group, were significantly less likely to consider themselves sports fans than the overall population.

Ampere said it appeared to be a recent phenomenon, citing comparable research a decade ago that found 18 to 24-year-olds were over-represented among sports fans.

According to the latest findings, young people are now 17pc less likely to identify sport as their favourite form of programming than the general population.

Richard Broughton of Ampere said the data should “ring alarm bells” for pay-TV operators, such as BT and Sky, that rely on sport as the main draw for subscribers.

He suggested that the rise of online streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube, as well as social media, was providing stronger competition for young people’s attention. Ampere’s research showed they were much more likely to cite films or box-sets as their favourite entertainment on screen.

Live sport has until recently been typically viewed by industry executives viewed as mostly immune to the upheaval in media habits brought by widespread high-speed broadband access. That belief has helped drive rapid inflation in the cost of rights, with Sky paying 83pc more this season for its Premier League deal.

However, viewing figures on both sides of the Atlantic this year have prompted some soul-searching. Audiences for American football on traditional broadcast channels were down as much 17pc in the first four weeks of the season.

Meanwhile audiences for the Premier League on Sky were down by nearly a fifth in the early stages of the season. BT has also suffered a dip in viewing.

Executives have cited a range of factors such as the absence of Manchester United from European competition, the relegation of Newcastle Utd and Aston Villa, and more viewing via apps. Privately though, pay-TV operators are striving to understand the trends.

Mr Broughton said: “It’s undoubtedly a complicated picture, but the millennial component is certainly part of it.”

Ampere said that for a basket of sports programming across Sky, BT and Eurosport channels, average weekly viewing is down 9pc since 2010.

Mr Broughton said: “Broadcasters and sports bodies need to encourage millennials back to sport, after all, they are the fans, viewers - and subscribers - of tomorrow.

“They will be all too aware that failure to engage younger consumers in sport means being trapped in an unsustainable scenario of escalating rights costs against a backdrop of a declining or stagnating audience base.”

Pay-TV operators are shielded from any financial impact that a decline in interest in sport among young people might have by the fact that they are rarely household bill payers. Both BT and Sky have been seeking to broaden their packages with more box-sets and streaming services.

Sky, the incumbent in pay-TV sport, has also courted younger viewers with Now TV, its own streaming brand, which has no long-term contract.

Mr Broughton said: “The more flexible packages are heading in the right direction but they are sometimes not significantly cheaper because of fear of cannibalising the satellite base. That might have to change.”