China's enthusiastic band of football fans have failed to sign up to watch the English Premier League on a new pay-per-view format.
Top-flight English matches were previously available for free on television and had a potential audience of 30 million.
But that changed when broadcaster WinTV bought the rights to broadcast Premier League games in China for three seasons, starting this year.
WinTV now admits it has managed to attract only 20,000 customers willing to pay the 588 yuan (£39; $80) annual fee.
A company spokeswoman said it was proving difficult to persuade Chinese football fans to pay to watch matches that were previously free.
"We're just trying to promote this concept, the idea that people should pay for this kind of service. It will take some time," she said.
Top-flight English matches were previously available for free on television and had a potential audience of 30 million.
But that changed when broadcaster WinTV bought the rights to broadcast Premier League games in China for three seasons, starting this year.
WinTV now admits it has managed to attract only 20,000 customers willing to pay the 588 yuan (£39; $80) annual fee.
A company spokeswoman said it was proving difficult to persuade Chinese football fans to pay to watch matches that were previously free.
"We're just trying to promote this concept, the idea that people should pay for this kind of service. It will take some time," she said.
WinTV, a previous popular football channel, has decided to change their price of showing football games from free to an anual (US) fee of $80. This change has cuased many football fans to not watch the channel, shifting the numbers of veiwers from millions to thousands. Former fans are upset and do not understand why they have to pay for something that was offered free the previous year.
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