British Sky Broadcasting invests $7m in US start-up Whistle Sports
British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has invested $7m in Whistle Sports, a US sports network on YouTube.
The deal will reportedly will give BSkyB a minority stake in Whistle Sports, a New York-based start-up that targets young viewers who are abandoning traditional television.
Traditional TV viewing by 16 to 34-year-olds has fallen 15% in the past 18 months, according to the industry data.
Whistle Sports this year raised $10m from investors, including MTV founder Bob Pittman. It has also signed rights deals with Nascar and Major League Baseball.
Sky Sports managing director Barney Francis said: “Whistle Sports has very quickly established itself in the US as a major new sports network. We see lots of potential to harness Sky Sports’ content and relationships with major sports bodies and brands to work alongside Whistle Sports’ talent network.
"We look forward to exploring opportunities to collaborate on video content that helps broaden engagement in sport, especially for younger audiences.”
The move follows BSkyB’s recent investments in Pluto.TV, an online video aggregator and the US ad tech firm Sharethrough.
Shares in BSkyB declined 0.52% to 869p at 11:10 on Wednesday.