Holding back the tide

The EPL fixture Crystal Palace v QPR this weekend offers a good snapshot of the old school and very profitable TV distribution model compared to a "challenger" online model. Looks like change is coming but resisted by the incumbents.

This fixture will be shown live on a region by region basis on the following authorised channels in return for a license fee which is recovered from the consumer via subscription or advertising.

6'Eren (den) / HD
Benfica TV2 (BTV 2)
BT Sport 1 / HD
C+ Family (poland) / HD
C+ Futbol (esp) / HD
C+ Sport (France) / HD
Diema Sport / HD
Digi Sport 1 (Hun) HD
ESPN Caribbean
EuroSport (romania) / HD
Fox Sports (italy) / HD
Fox Sports 2 HD / (ned)
Futbol 1 (Ukraine)
Go Sports 2 / HD
GOL Stadium
Gol T (espana)
Gong Player (online)
Idman TV
LIG TV3 / HD
MTV Sport 1 (finland)
NTV Plus Futbol 1 / HD
OLL TV (online)
OTE Sport 1 HD
SportKlub 1 (croatia)
SportKlub 1 (serbia)
SportKlub 1 (slovenia)
Stod 2 Sport 2 / HD
Telenet Sporting HD 1
TV2 Sport Premium HD
TV2sumo.no
TV3+ (denmark) / HD
Viasat Football (swe) / HD
Viasat Sport Baltic
Astro Supersport 1
CTH Stadium 3 HD
mio Stadium 102 HD
NBC Sports Live extra
Premier League Pass NZ

Meanwhile the following unauthorised / pirate channels will show uninterrupted coverage worldwide on a free to air basis but advertising supported. Needless to say no license fee is paid.

Feed2All
CricFree
GoATD
StopStream
VIP Stand
Slip Stream TV
Stream 2 Watch
Live TV
Drakula Streams
Sport Lemon
Ilive
KingStreams
StreamKing
Wiz1

Klipcorp analysis shows high audience levels on unauthorised channels with a strong bias towards a younger demographic. Generally these channels are available across all digital devices.

The status quo looks unsustainable as the unauthorised distributors gradually squeeze audience out of the legitimate operators and develop brands in their own right.

The pay tv model will evolve to face this but exactly how is anybodies guess.