Broadcaster Choice and Audience Demand for Live Sport Games: Panel Analyses of the Korea Baseball Organization

Abstract

This study investigated the determinants of television viewership and its relation to broadcasters’ choices of matches for live telecasts. Also, factors driving the broadcasters’ choices were examined. A panel data set from the 2018 Korea Baseball Organization league pennant race was analyzed. Broadcasters’ choice order of matches and the actual television ratings of each match were regressed on a series of antecedent factors related to the game characteristics and audience preferences. It was found that the broadcasters’ choice order of matches positively affected the television ratings, suggesting that the broadcasters’ decisions were well reflected in the actual viewership. It also appeared that broadcasters’ choices were based on popularity and team performance/quality, whereas viewers showed preference for current games’ on-field performance. There was no evidence of audience preference for games with higher outcome uncertainty, whereas the broadcasters tended to choose games with more certain, rather than uncertain, outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

Missed a live match? Determinants of League of Legends Champions Korea highlights viewership

“…This indicates that fans prefer watching games involving a team with higher Elo ratings or lower league standings (i.e., a better team). This result is consistent with those of previous findings on live attendees (Buraimo and Simmons, 2008;Benz et al, 2009;DeSchriver et al, 2016), TV viewership (Kim et al, 2021;Wills et al, 2022), and esports replays (Wang, 2022).…”