François Godard was quoted in The Observer on "How wrestling got into the ring with networks and streamers"
18 August 2025Rogan’s interpretation is not quite right: viewers will have to pay to watch UFC fights, but as part of a monthly subscription, rather than through pay-per-view. It is a change of approach that has been coming for some time, according to François Godard, a media and telecoms specialist at Enders Analysis, a UK research house.
“Pay-per-view is perhaps not in terminal decline, but it is vanishing,” he said. “It emerged at a time when consumers were familiar with the idea of renting a tape or a disc of a movie. The public is less open to that now. The concept of renting a piece of content has all but disappeared.”
“There is nothing new here,” said Godard. “This was true of subscription TV, too. If you had to choose one piece of content, you’d choose sports. But the larger story is still one of fragmentation: most of those people who want to watch UFC on Paramount will probably want to watch other sports, and for that they still need other subscriptions.”