There are about twenty sports channels operating on the Czech market and their number has been steadily growing in recent years. Thanks to their attractive target audience, they do represent interesting advertising opportunities because the biggest sports events on Pay-TV channels do regularly attract up to half a million viewers. That’s one of the reasons why the sports channels’ market is very competitive. What changes can be therefore expected in the coming years?
Sport 1 and Sport 2, Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, Nova Sport 1, Nova Sport 2, Nova Sport 3, Nova Sport 4, O2 TV Sport, O2 TV Football, O2 TV Tennis, Premier Sport 1, Premier Sport 2 – and some more. Currently, there are approximately 20 sports channels on our market, with recent years seeing their number expanding even more. For example, Nova TV group launched their third and fourth Nova Sport channels in 2021, and last year saw a completely new player entering the market – the CANAL+ TV group with its sports channel CANAL+ Sport, which offers its viewers live broadcasts of the top English football league – the Premier League.
“It is not only the increasing number of sports channels but also rising fees for broadcasting rights that make the entire market more competitive,” says Tatiana Bizovová, Channel Account Manager at Atmedia – a company that commercially represents nearly 30 thematic TV channels on the Czech market. The market itself may also wrestle with an issue of Czech Television’s cost saving which may ignite a battle for broadcasting rights. Last year’s example saw Czech Television sublicensing some of their FIFA World Cup matches’ broadcasting rights to Nova TV group. The latest topic is now the tender process for broadcasting rights to the Czech Ice Hockey League with another talk of a tender for the Czech First Football League. The fight for broadcasting rights for world’s events such as Formula 1 does take place at the multinational TV groups level with Czech Television not being involved.
Formula 1 or Premier League as Flagship Events
“Individual sports competitions are flagship events of TV channels almost exclusively available in the Pay-TV operators’ offer,” describes Tatiana Bizovová pointing out to, for example, the Formula 1 races which are exclusively offered to AMC Group’s Sport 1 and Sport 2 channel viewers. The Australian Open and US Open Grand Slam tournaments, as well as the cycling stage races such as Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta, are all broadcasted by the Eurosport 1 channel of the Warner Bros. Discovery Group. On the other hand, The English Premier League is now being broadcasted by the Czech market’s newest player – CANAL+ Sport of the CANAL+ Group. Italian Serie A or French Ligue 1 are then available to viewers of Nova Sport TV channels. “Sports events are now likely to resemble the paid VOD services that do deliver an exclusive content. Should a viewer want to watch all the currently most talked about shows, they’d need to subscribe to all streaming services available. The same now applies to sports content,” specifies Tatiana Bizovová.
Despite of all that’s been mentioned above, the competitive battle among broadcasters does also brings the viewers one benefit, and that is the improvement of sports broadcasts’ quality as well as additional extension programmes and shows. For example, O2 TV Sport offers its viewers a multidimensional broadcasting of ice hockey league matches, Sport 2 engages its viewers with their pre-match live studios before the Formula 1 race broadcasts, while CANAL+ Sport provides post-match interviews with English football players in Czech language after the Premier League live broadcasts. “The high and ever-growing competition among broadcasters creates a quite strong pressure, from which the viewers benefit the most,” says Tatiana Bizovová.
The interest in TV channels’ sports content is also being evidenced by viewership numbers. Out of the total time spent in front of their TV screen by Czech viewers aged 15-69, 5% is dedicated to sports programmes. With one single exception, this figure has remained stable in the long run. In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic erupted and numerous sports events were cancelled or postponed. As a result, the share of sports programmes in the overall viewing time dropped to 3%. For context – viewers dedicate the most time to movies and TV series, accounting for less than half of their total TV viewing time.[1]
Common Seasonality Does Not Apply to Sports Channels
Determining the television viewership results for individual sports channels is quite difficult. Czech market does account for about twenty of them, but only three channels – ČT Sport (public broadcaster), Eurosport 1, and Sport 2 – are taking part in the official electronic viewership measurement. Along with other thematic channels, Eurosport 1 and Sport 2 are commercially represented on the Czech market by Atmedia. “While we don’t possess the official viewership results for most sports channels, Eurosport 1 and Sport 2 give us an idea of how do the Pay-TV sports channels on the Czech market perform,” explains Pavel Müller, Atmedia’s Head of Research & Marketing. Eurosport 1 has entered the official electronic measurement in 2020, while Sport 2 has taken the part in 2015.
Both TV channels do attract hundreds of thousands of viewers. Every single month, Eurosport 1 reaches an average of over 300,000 viewers aged 15-69, while Sport 2 exceeds the 200,000 viewer mark. In the broader target audience aged 4+, the numbers are even higher, with Eurosport 1 reaching over 450,000 viewers per month and Sport 2 approaching 300,000 viewers.[2] “The sports channels’ viewership can vary greatly in different months as they do not follow the standard seasonality with lower viewership in summer and higher viewership in winter. While one month, Eurosport 1 may attract over 200,000 viewers aged 15-69, it can reach over half a million viewers the next,” clarifies Pavel Müller, emphasizing that the television viewership of sports channels is primarily influenced by specific sports broadcasts.
The Biggest Sports Events May Attract Up to Half a Million Viewers
The biggest sports events on Eurosport 1 and Sport 2 can attract up to half a million viewers among the age group of 15-69. Eurosport 1 most-watched sports events do cover the Grand Slam tournaments. Last year’s French Open reached 254,000 viewers aged 15-69 over two weeks’ period, while the US Open attracted 243,000 viewers and this year’s Australian Open reached an impressive 326,000 viewers. Among the stage cycling races – another flagship content on Eurosport 1 – the Tour de France performed exceptionally well, attracting 180,000 viewers aged 15-69 over three weeks. La Vuelta approached the 150,000 mark. The Eurosport 1 television viewership record is held by the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were broadcasted between July and August 2021. Over the course of two weeks, they attracted nearly half a million viewers aged 15-69.[3]
On the other measured Pay-TV sports channel – Sport 2 – the most-watched sports broadcasts are consistently the Formula 1 races. “Last year, the live broadcasts of Formula 1 practice sessions, qualifying, and races did reach a total of 410,000 viewers aged 15-69, with races themselves being watched by an average of 4% of viewers sitting in front of their TV screens,” reveals Pavel Müller while sharing the specific numbers. The high Formula 1 viewership can be attributed not only to its attractiveness to the audience but also to the exclusivity of its broadcast on Sport 1 and Sport 2 channels.[4] “Considering that sports channels are only available to viewers through Pay-TV operators, these are very good numbers,” points out Pavel Müller. Other successful sports broadcasts on Sport 2 do also include the UEFA Europa Conference League and the UEFA Nations League matches.
Typical Viewer – Productive Aged Men With Higher Incomes
Typical sports TV channels’ viewers are predominantly men in their productive age with higher incomes. On Eurosport 1, men do make up 65% of all viewers aged 15-69, while on Sport 2, they account for over four-fifths. The composition of viewers varies from programme to programme. For example, the gender distribution is more balanced during the Olympic Games, while approximately four-fifths of viewers of cycling races are male. A similar trend is observed for live Formula 1 broadcasts, with nearly 85% of viewers being male.[5]
The typical audience of Pay-TV sports channels such as Eurosport 1 and Sport 2 consists of men aged 25-54. While they represent an average of one-quarter of all viewers aged 15-69 across all measured TV channels, they constitute 39% on Eurosport 1 and as much as 47% on Sport 2.[6] Moreover, these men often do have higher incomes and reside in larger cities. The proportion of men aged 25-54 with AB socioeconomic score is higher on these two sports channels than the average for the whole Czech TV market. Advertisers seeking to target this specific demographic, such as betting companies, automobile manufacturers, or the online gaming sector, do find the Pay-TV sports channels appealing. “The combination of a brand with a global sporting event and the ability to reach men in their productive age and with higher incomes are the fundamental benefits of TV advertising on Pay-TV sports channels,” concludes Pavel Müller.
In some cases, there are additional opportunities for advertisers to engage potential customers through specific advertising formats. For instance, Sport 2 offers a split-screen format, where commercials run simultaneously with live Formula 1 races, allowing them to capture viewers’ maximum attention during the broadcast.
[1] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–3, 2020, 2022, ATS, TG 15–69
[2] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–3, 2022, Reach, TG 15–69, 4+
[3] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–3, 2021–2023, Reach, TG 15–69, Eurosport 1, live broadcasts
[4] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–3, 2022, Reach, Share, TG 15–69, Sport 1 and Sport 2, live broadcasts
[5] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–3, 2022, Profile, to TG 15–69
[6] ATO – Nielsen, Live + TS0–3, 2022, Profile, to TG 15–69
