Just been reading Games and Sets by Steve Barnett about sport on TV, which was written in 1990, just before the Sky revolution of televised sport. While some of the changes its wrought were already becoming apparent, the size of the sea change is immense.
For instance, the 10 most televised sports in 1988 (excluding the Olympics) were:
Cricket 339 hours
Snooker 307 hours
Horse-racing 272 hours
Football 219 hours
Golf 157 hours
Tennis 150 hours
American Football 89 hours
Bowls 87 hours
Athletics 79 hours
Motor-racing 71 hours
The lack of coverage of football obviously jumps out (and it was inflated by Euro 88, in 1987 it had less hours than bowls) as does the high position of snooker. Some intersting omissions too, posh rugby only had 58 hours.
For instance, the 10 most televised sports in 1988 (excluding the Olympics) were:
Cricket 339 hours
Snooker 307 hours
Horse-racing 272 hours
Football 219 hours
Golf 157 hours
Tennis 150 hours
American Football 89 hours
Bowls 87 hours
Athletics 79 hours
Motor-racing 71 hours
The lack of coverage of football obviously jumps out (and it was inflated by Euro 88, in 1987 it had less hours than bowls) as does the high position of snooker. Some intersting omissions too, posh rugby only had 58 hours.
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