My 18-year-old son, Archie, wants - and gets - his sport from everywhere. He has no regard for the particular programme or the presenters, although he does quite like Gary Neville. Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy, on the other hand, talk sense but they’re speaking to his dad, not to him.
I do have time for them because I remember them in their football-playing pomp. BBC One’s Match of the Day as a show, Archie can take or leave. It’s the action he’s after. If it’s a big match he might watch it live, if not he will catch the highlights well before they appear on the plodding BBC. Clips on social media, YouTube, dodgy foreign streaming services – you name it, he will have found a way.
At home, his old man would have stuck faithfully to BBC, ITV, Sky and their scheduling. But Archie, he wants it now, on the move, wherever he is and he’s not bothered who supplies it. Archie is the future. While the TV executives want me to keep tuning in, the charts they pore over, the ones that dictate where their industry is heading, tell them they must somehow woo Archie, that he’s more to offer long term.
That’s easier said than done if you work for an old-fashioned TV content provider. You’ve paid a fortune for the ability to show live sports and you’ve also got these other comedies and dramas in your locker that have cost the earth. Advertisers are champing at the bit for youth and renewal and volume, and all the time your audience is ageing and declining.
Denne historien er fra February 09, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February 09, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Fierce rivalry in best British flyweight fight for decades
This time last year, Sunny Edwards was on his way to the USA for a unification world title fight, and Galal Yafai was a five-fight novice.
Wiegman faces twin issues in tactical battle with Hayes
Sarina Wiegman had already highlighted where England need to improve long before Emma Hayes and the United States landed in London ahead of today's marquee clash at Wembley.
Crisis at City has shades of Mourinho's Bridge too far
For all the comments on Pep Guardiola's scratches, some senior figures in football were a bit shocked by the image.
Our favourite brands are at risk from changing demand
Constantly evolving consumer habits are threatening even the biggest names - factor in a competitive marketplace and rising overheads, and they're goners, says Chris Blackhurst
Insurgents fighting Assad's Syrian regime enter Aleppo
Surprise offensive is first time city is attacked since 2016
Macron praises those who helped rebuild Notre-Dame
President visits cathedral as it prepares to reopen next week
Three main Irish parties set for election photo finish
Sinn Fein, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are virtually neck-and-neck in terms of first preference votes in the Irish general election, according to an exit poll last night.
Ukraine could cede land for peace deal, says Zelensky
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested he would temporarily cede Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for joining Nato.
Russia suffers record 2,000 losses in one day, says Kyiv
Claims of unprecedented military casualties for Moscow come as Putin’s forces make advances in eastern Ukraine
Police name mother killed in hit-and-run e-bike crash
A young mother who was killed after she was knocked off an ebike in a hit-and-run crash has been named.