Sky Sports is overhauling its Premier League coverage, launching a new whip-around show called Multiview to manage multiple simultaneous Sunday games. The move, part of a massive expansion to over 215 live matches, mimics the popular NFL RedZone format to keep viewers locked in on the action.
A problem of its own making: Sky’s latest rights deal created the very issue Multiview solves. By acquiring the rights to every 2pm Sunday kickoff, the broadcaster now faces weekends with up to four concurrent matches, making a single broadcast impossible and a curated, rapid-fire feed a necessity.
The streaming playbook: The changes go beyond the broadcast, with new platform-level features for Sky Glass and Stream customers. Users can now create team-specific pages that funnel content into a personalized stream and restart games from the beginning, finally bringing capabilities long standard in on-demand services to live sports.
Stacking the schedule: To support the "supersized" game days, Sky is also adding new programming. The lineup includes Extra Time, a Sunday night analysis show with Jamie Carragher, and the return of the popular journalist roundtable _Sunday Supplement_.
Sky is moving to make its platform stickier, integrating features that turn a passive viewing experience into an interactive, personalized ecosystem designed to keep fans from looking elsewhere. But its "near-monopoly" on Premier League weekends still faces competition, as TNT Sports holds the rights to 52 key matches. The "whip-around" format itself has become big business in the US, where a recent deal saw the NFL gain a 10% stake in ESPN as part of the rights package for NFL RedZone.
