Sky is to launch a new TV channel that will make live games including Premier League matches available to non-sports subscribers for the first time.
The new channel, Sky Sports Mix, is aimed at encouraging a higher proportion of the broadcaster’s 12 million-plus subscribers to add its sports packages to their monthly TV plan.
“We are giving millions more people access to great moments from some of the world’s biggest sporting events at no extra cost,” said Sky Sports managing director Barney Francis.
“It is a fantastic way for all Sky customers to be able to enjoy some of the great content that has made Sky Sports the first choice for sport. Our aim is to offer sport in a way that can engage, encourage and excite everyone even further.”
About 5 million to 6 million Sky customers have a sports package, which costs about £25 a month, with subscribers on the cheapest tier paying about £20.
Sky said the new channel will offer a “select number” of live Premier League and Football League matches, as well as regular live football from competitions including Spain’s La Liga, the US’s MLS and the Fifa 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
The channel also promises to include live sport including golf and international cricket, alongside documentaries, sports entertainment shows and kids’ content such as the new live Saturday morning show, Game Changers.
There is also the suggestion that the channel may be a way to win back viewers who have gravitated to pay-as-you go sport via Now TV, which allows viewers to pay for a day’s access to Sky Sports without an expensive TV subscription.
However, Sky is understood to see Now TV customers as completely different consumers of media to traditional customers and the company is not aiming to win them over to a full package.
It sees Sky Sports Mix as a way of offering more value to existing customers to stop them thinking about defecting to rivals such as BT Sport, Virgin Media and TalkTalk TV.
Sky’s churn rate, the proportion of customers who leave the service for a rival, is running at 10%, which is considered a low level.
“Sky Sports Mix will bring sport to more people and provide many different ways of enjoying our coverage, from high-profile live events and fascinating documentaries to clips of incredible moments,” said Francis.
Sky stressed that the only way to watch “every minute” of the sport to which it has TV rights – 60,000 hours a year – is to take a full subscription.
