How AI changes the rules of engagement for sports viewers

{"text":[[{"start":4.15,"text":"Fortunes rise and fall in sport. Witness Germany’s performance in this year’s World Cup, or — from a different angle — Cape Verde’s. But there is one constant: fans glued to screens and, as a result, media grabbing the biggest share of money flowing from it."}],[{"start":20.700000000000003,"text":"For years, that handed the financial trophy to a posse of traditional broadcasters and cable companies, including the BBC and Sky Sports in the UK, Comcast’s NBC Sports and Paramount Skydance’s CBS Sports in the US."}],[{"start":36.45,"text":"Lately, streaming platforms like Amazon Prime have introduced more competition. That shift includes NFL games on Netflix and Formula 1 on Apple in the US. Netflix and Alphabet’s YouTube are reportedly among those seeking US broadcast rights to the next two Fifa World Cups."}],[{"start":54.5,"text":"Fragmentation does not play so well with sports fans obliged to shell out more for multiple subscriptions. But, as Bernstein analysts note in a recent report, changes are afoot behind the scenes. Spectators will see more opportunity to move from pricey subscriptions and rigid schedules to more personalised feeds."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":73.75,"text":"The idea of choose-your-own-adventure content isn’t totally new. Chinese streaming platforms let viewers adapt shows to their own whims; focusing on a favourite actor perhaps. Outside of the People’s Republic, it’s eight years since Netflix’s interactive Black Mirror: Bandersnatch."}],[{"start":90.3,"text":"AI makes personalisation and proliferation, of content much easier. It also cuts costs massively: hefty cameras and kit are subbed out for lightweight alternatives. The cloud obviates the need for control rooms, miles of cable and satellite uplinks. Bots, amassing information and statistics, replace expensive pundits."}],[{"start":111.05,"text":"Look at Amazon, taking AI on to the golfing links. PGA Tour, which organises golf tours, deployed Amazon technology to shred costs by 95 per cent. Bits of content showing recaps, betting profiles and the rest, each cost literally pennies."}],[{"start":129.65,"text":"For sports fans this offers much more: live in-match replays, multiple new camera angles and behind the scenes stories of players. Viewers can follow favourite footballers to the gym, hear what their favourite pre-game routine is and watch them recount key moments. "}],[{"start":146.55,"text":"Several start-ups are in the game, including Amazon’s PGA partner sports AI specialist CapTech and WSC Sports, which can clip a goal, analyse it and send it out in social-media-ready format, all in real time. These are more likely to partner with streaming companies than legacy media."}],[{"start":164.4,"text":"But ultimately there is little to stop Fifa and its ilk working with tech companies to take matches direct to the consumer, much like ecommerce has done for retail. Given sport’s popularity, that would cut deep — and explains why the old guard of sports rights ownership want to preserve the status quo."}],[{"start":189.10000000000002,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783674500_8159.mp3"}