Sky Sports has changed way we enjoy sport since launch in 1991

Tuesday 19 April 2016 10:29, UK

Sky Sports has changed the way we enjoy sport and big strides have been made since the first channel was launched in 1991.

When Sky Sports hit television screens on April 20, 1991, coverage of sport was vastly different to the comprehensive, interactive viewing experience that is offered today.

Just two years before Sky Sports started, there were 26 live football matches on ITV and nine-and-a-half live matches on the BBC, with the BBC only showing the second half of England vs Greece. Now, Sky Sports will show 126 Premier League games and 127 Football League games in the 2016-17 season.

On April 20, 1990 - one year exactly before Sky Sports started - snooker was interrupted by 'Fireman Sam' and 'Tales of Aesop'.

Now, Sky Sports offers seven channels 24/7 with round-the-clock sports coverage, but how else has the viewing experience drastically changed over the last 25 years?

More hours of coverage...


700,000+	hours of sport broadcast on Sky Sports since 1991
60,000+	hours of sport to be broadcast on Sky Sports in 2016
13,000	hours of football last year on Sky Sports
7,000+	hours of cricket last year on Sky Sports
6,000+	hours of golf last year on Sky Sports

March 1991

The month before Sky Sports began, 27 hours of sport was screened by terrestrial broadcasters. Now (on average) 5,000 hours of sport are shown by Sky Sports alone.

Throughout March, only 70 minutes of football was shown by terrestrial broadcasters. Now, each month, Sky Sports offers hundreds of hours of comprehensive football coverage.

April 1991

On April 19, the day before Sky Sports began, there was one hour and 40 minutes of sport on television, 35 minutes of golf and one hour and five minutes of racing. Now, on Sky Sports alone, seven channels run 24 hours a day, offering round-the-clock coverage.

No football was shown by terrestrial broadcasters on the day Sky Sports started. Now, across Sky Sports' seven channels, football fans can watch football in one form or another every day of the week.

Far more football

In the last season that top-flight league football was just on terrestrial TV, 18 live league games were offered, with the first match on in November, three months into the season. Now, Sky Sports, from the 2016-17 season, will show 126 games live from the top flight.

Rugby on the rise

There was no regular weekly coverage of live club rugby before Sky Sports started its first season in 1996. Now, viewers can enjoy domestic rugby from across the British Isles and France, as well as European competition club rugby