Time shifting, the recording of programming to watch or listen to later at a more convenient time, has changed the way we consume media, but I believe it’s also led to the increased popularity of soccer worldwide.
Out of all of the Premier League, Euro 2008 and Champions League soccer that you watch, how much of it do you watch live? Or, if you’re like me and others, do you end up watching it after a long day at work or while the kids are sleeping?
It’s not just TV where we time shift. Many of us listen to soccer-related podcasts or radio shows on our iPods or via our browsers at more convenient times.
Imagine, for a second, that time shifting didn’t exist. We would be forced to sit down to watch our favorite soccer matches at the exact time when they were shown live on television. It’d be a nice change at first, but in the hectic life that so many of us live nowadays, we would end up consuming less soccer programming than we currently do.
Time shifting, in the form of Tivo or DVRs, allows us to watch more soccer programming than ever before. Rather than being constrained to watching only those things that we can see live, we’re able to record several matches during the week as well as soccer news programs and related shows, and then watch them whenever we have time.
The future of soccer programming has a tremendous growth potential over the next few years. Many more of us are consuming our soccer online instead of just on television. Plus with the progress being made with high-speed internet connections on cellphones, we’ll be experiencing soccer on-the-go especially with the popularity of the Apple iPhone.
Time shifting, as a whole, has changed the way we experience our favorite sport. Combined with the incredible choices of soccer coverage online via websites, these technologies provide soccer fans with even more ways to share their passion. And it’s importantly made the sport more accessible to new fans. It wasn’t that long ago when many of us lived in the soccer dark ages (especially in the United States) where we idolized a certain Lionel Bienvenu because that’s all we had. How times have changed.
I’ve wondered whether soccer fans in the US tend to be more tech-savvy in terms of DVR and internet-usage than the average American sports-fan, possibly as these are linked to wealth and soccer is more of a middle-class sport here than the rest of the world, and also out of necessity due to niche market status.
definitely, it has a lot to do with soccer being a sport of the middle/upper class here in america. also unlike other sports the best quality soccer is played overseas and we are forced to watch it at odd times.
I watch the weekend games live and the weekday games on a delay. I’m not talking DVR either, I mean old fashioned VCR recording. I usually watch the tapes when I get home between 6-7pm. I agree that it helps grow the popularity when you can watch games at different times.
I watch almost everything on delay, not just soccer. I haven’t seen a commercial in years! If it wasn’t for TIVO, I would probably get more done around the house though. I have Setanta and FSC, which means EVERY EPL game. I’m not an early riser on Saturdays so I’m really happy to be able to get up around 9:00 or 10:00 and start my soccer watching. In the old days before TIVO, I had to get up and I missed games because of overlap, but now I can watch every game, and often do. Some games don’t get watched for a couple of days sometimes. Also, I get many Podcasts like EPL Talk, 606 and the Gaurdian which I listen to at work! Love it!!
I adore my Sky+ system, which is the British version of Tivo. I imagine Tivo is essential for you guys to follow British football.
606 is having a bit of a renaissance at the moment as it’s brought Danny Baker back, who was the original presenter back in day.