Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 to be retired and cheaper packages to launch

Sky is set to retire Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, it has been reported.

The broadcaster will also introduce new subscription packages that are significantly cheaper than those on offer currently.

It will get rid of its numbered sports channels and replace them with channels for specific sports, like the existing Formula One channel.

According to the Guardian, there will be two channels dedicated to football, one dedicated to golf, one dedicated to cricket and another, called Sky Sports Arena, for miscellaneous sports like boxing, rugby and tennis.

Sky is hoping that the shakeup will help it attract new customers, as it will allow the company to create new subscription packages with much more attractive prices.

Its current cheapest sports package costs £49.50, while the cheapest new package will reportedly be available for £18.

The move should also make it easier for consumers to pick the best package for them, and could make it much easier for the company to gauge the popularity of each sport too.

That could prove key when it comes to bidding for sports rights.

Sky forked out £4.2 billion for Premier League television rights in 2015, 83 per cent more than it paid three years earlier.

Viewing figures, meanwhile, have dropped significantly, hitting a seven-year low in the 2016/17 season, according to the Broadcasters Audience Research Board.

This has been blamed on changing viewing habits, but Sky believes that linear viewing still has a future.