The 6th March 1988 was a very different time. Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, EastEnders had only been on for just over three years and the Premier League didn't even exist. It would also be the last time the BBC would broadcast a top flight game live.
Presented by the legendary Jimmy Hill, Arsenal beat Tottenham 2-1 in the North London derby, the winner from Perry Groves, but Liverpool would go on to claim their 17th English title. Fast forward thirty-two years and the BBC have live top-flight football again.
The thought of having Premier League matches on terrestrial television was never considered but with fans unable to attend matches due to the country being on lockdown, the decision was made for matches to be made available to everyone. Sky have simulcast 25 matches onto the free-to-air Pick channel, Amazon Prime made their four matches able to be streamed for free and the BBC got four matches. BT kept their matches behind a paywall.
It was a welcome treat for fans who do not pay for subscription television to be able to watch live football that wasn't the FA Cup or an England international. Sky and BT hold a duopoly on English football where terrestrial channels cannot compete in the market. They haven't done since 1992 and the advent of the Premier League.
It is no surprise that viewing figures for the Champions League and Premier League are decreasing year on year. Fans aren't paying the excessive prices and will watch matches via dodgy live streams. During the 2018-19 season, the Champions League live match audience dropped from 2 billion over the previous three-year cycle down to 1.3 billion. In one year, there was a fall of 35%.
But what do the officials think? Is this down to companies charging exploitive prices to keep up with the rapid growth of the football market because of the forces of hyper-capitalism? No, it isn't. Apparently it's because 90 minutes is too long. Or maybe football needs to revamp itself in a Twenty20 Cricket way. It seems pretty clear to me, however, that football viewing figures are down because most matches are on subscription television and that limits the amount of people who can view the matches., not because matches are over an hour or boring.
Lockdown has shown how free-to-air television destroys this argument. If football viewing figures are going down, why has the Premier League viewing record been broken twice in this period. Everton vs Liverpool drew in a peak of 5.5 million on Sky/Pick to be beaten by Southampton vs Manchester City on the BBC with a peak audience of 5.7 million. The previous record was the Manchester derby in April 2012 of 4 million. Even Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace on the BBC got 3.9 million.
Let's not forget that the BBC broke the record despite having the tenth pick of the matchday.
There are currently no plans to incorporate free-to-air television into the Premier League television rights deal, which is a huge mistake. Not only do you miss the intelligence of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, but there is a massive opportunity for the Premier League to increase its market size within its own country.
If it was up to me, at least one Premier League match would be broadcast free-to-air on the BBC or ITV every week, free of charge. Until then, viewing figures will continue to decrease but as long as the money from the subscription channels continues to come, and it will, millions across the country will miss out on live football.
It's about time the Premier League gave something back to the fans.
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