Watching Live Sport on TV
Q. How often do you watch live sport on free-to-air TV?
Q. How often do you watch live sport on pay TV?
| FTA | Pay | |
| More than three times a week | 11% | 7% |
| Two or three times a week | 13% | 5% |
| About once a week | 21% | 8% |
| About once a month | 7% | 4% |
| Less often | 9% | 6% |
| It varies, depending on the time of year | 20% | 10% |
| Total watch | 80% | 39% |
| Never | 18% | 59% |
| Can’t say | 2% | 2% |
80% say they watch live sport on free-to-air TV and 39% watch on pay TV.
45% watch at least once a week on free-to-air TV and 20% watch at least once a week on pay TV.
57% of men and 31% of women watch on FTA TV at least once a week, while 25% of men and 14% of women watch on pay TV at least once a week.
The age groups most likely to watch FTA at least once a week are 18-24 (52%) and 35-44 (49%) while those least likely are 65+ (39%) and 25-34 (39%).
There were no substantial age differences for those watching on pay TV.
Rating Coverage of Live Sport on TV
Q. How would you rate the coverage of live sport on free-to-air TV?
Q. How would you rate the coverage of live sport on pay TV?
| FTA | Pay | |
| Total good | 77% | 80% |
| Total poor | 17% | 5% |
| Very good | 19% | 40% |
| Good | 58% | 40% |
| Poor | 14% | 3% |
| Very poor | 3% | 2% |
| Don’t know | 6% | 15% |
*Note : Percentages based on those who watch live sport on FTA/pay TV.
77% of those who watch sport on FTA TV rate the coverage good and 17% say it is poor. For watchers of pay TV, 80% say good and 5% poor.
40% of viewers rate pay TV “very good” compared to 19% for FTA TV.
For pay TV coverage, those watching more frequently are more likely to give higher positive ratings – for those viewing at least twice a week, 70% rated it very good, 26% good and only 1% poor or very poor.
For FTA TV coverage, of those viewing at least twice a week, 29% rated it very good, 48% good and 20% poor or very poor.
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Two Party Preferred: 14 May 2019
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