The Financial Times are reporting that Sky Sports have seen a sharp decline in viewing figures for the past Premier League season.
Average viewing for live games for the full season across Sky's channels fell by 14%, which represents the sharpest decline they have suffered since these figures were first recorded in 2010.
Total viewing hours fell by an average of 6%.
This decline in viewers comes at a worrying time for the broadcaster: they paid a total of £4.2 billion for the TV rights under the most recent agreement, which works out at an average of £10 million per game.
There is also the wider context to fret about: ESPN's business model has taken a huge loss owing to an enormous loss of subscribers, as viewers move to the on-demand model, in which you pay for what you want to watch.
A spokesperson for Sky told the Financial Times that they were encouraged by the rise in users watching games on their streaming service, Sky Go, while they explained the decrease in average viewership as being partly down to the addition of games involving smaller, less glamorous teams.
This continues a trend that was evident at the beginning of the season, however.
It became relatively big news earlier in the season, as the Daily Mail splashed the decline in figures across their newspaper: figures had dropped by 19% over the first two months of the season.
Sky responded with relative calm, citing the "illegal streaming of matches, a hot summer, and the rival attraction of the Olympics" as reasons behind the decline, confident that the passing of the latter two would lead to an increase in ratings.
There has been a slight increase on that figure, but the overall trend is a major worry for Sky.
BT Sport, meanwhile, witnessed a more modest decline of 2%.
A deeper exploration of the decline in viewing figures, and what they will ultimately lead to, can be read here.
