Just been reading Games and Sets by Steve Barnett about sport on TV, which was written in 1990, just before the Sky revolution of televised sport. While some of the changes its wrought were already becoming apparent, the size of the sea change is immense.

For instance, the 10 most televised sports in 1988 (excluding the Olympics) were:

Cricket 339 hours
Snooker 307 hours
Horse-racing 272 hours
Football 219 hours
Golf 157 hours
Tennis 150 hours
American Football 89 hours
Bowls 87 hours
Athletics 79 hours
Motor-racing 71 hours

The lack of coverage of football obviously jumps out (and it was inflated by Euro 88, in 1987 it had less hours than bowls) as does the high position of snooker. Some intersting omissions too, posh rugby only had 58 hours.

Etienne wrote:

QUOTE:
posh rugby only had 58 hours.

That would've been largely the Five Nations and other internationals. Remember that back then rugger only had a cup competition and friendlies.

Yeah, the book mentions that just putting down hours of coverage can be misleading and that Rugby Union's 58 hours would almost all have been on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, while the 61 hours of Basketball were probably tucked away on late night Channel 4.

Forgot to add, one brilliant anecdote about the first ever live sporting broadcast (Wimbledon, 1937).

"During tests, interference with signals from the mobile transmitter at Wimbledon had been traced to Hornsey Central Hospital, jeopardising the experimental transmission. The secretary of the hospital was contacted and agreed to suspend all 'diathermy activities' during transmission periods. If any patient at Hornsey hospital wondered why their internal organs were not heated by electrical current on that day, it is unlikely they were told the truth."