Whilst I'll be watching it with an Aldi cider in hand on an illegal stream as Sky is too expensive because they overpay for the football TV rights, which may explain where the rest of the viewers have gone.

There will also be some truth in that. I know some people who do that, but not me of course.

Looking at the new figures for SL and looking at the Aviva Prems figures rising nearly 50% in 2 years on BT, maybe Koukash was right when he said signing up until 2021 with SKY was the wrong deal and should have gone out to tender. With no football on and SKY getting more subscribers, the SL figures should be much higher. At the current rate of decrease they will be below 100,000 in a few years!

Don’t worry, after tonight’s veritable feast, with it been a top of the table clash and all, new & lapsed viewers will be flooding to watch the game.

For me, this is simple. The game is a fine spectacle (generally), but the commentary that goes with the live games is appalling.

Almost all reading this will attend live games, and live/breathe the tension and admire the skills/abilities/fitness of the players that take to the field of play.

I record all SL games, but tbh only watch a small proportion of them. Lack of spare time is a factor for me (and a daughter that commandeers the remote!), but the same old, same old, comments don't really make it compelling watch.

Tbh, watching on TV is a very poor experience compared to "being there"!

You make some good points but to say 10s of 1000s of viewers have stopped watching all of a sudden because of poop commentary doesn't ring true as haven't they always been poop?

You make a good point, what I say is a personal opinion (which results in me not viewing that many SL games, even though I have them on Sky plus)!!

Fair play. Sky should do a red button/crowd only thing like they did for football years back.

People still watch rugby league on sky? I thought everyone used an F5 box or Kodi?

Regards

King James

The commentary does given an awful impression of the sport, especially the addition of awful, inarticulate pundits Barrie and Terry to almost every SL match. I tend to enjoy games far more when Brian Carney is on commentary rather than McDermott/O'Connor, and I'm pretty sure it's not a coincidence.

Why does any sport on TV need commentators?

To provide a career path for old has-beens who would never make it as coaches