A new report from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) reveals that digital media is fast becoming the medium of choice for sports fans and pushing the boundaries of media convergence across TV, internet and mobile.
The
Sport and the Shift to Interactive Media report indicates that twice as many sports fans use the internet whilst watching TV compared with the average user (32% vs. 16%).
TV and internet now far outstrip other media at peak viewing times, and twice as many sports fans watch video via mobile compared with the average mobile user (12% vs. 6%).
These figures are set to ramp up as we approach a summer full of hot-to-watch events such as Euro 2008 and the Olympics.
Events such as these can act as catalysts for media change as fans adopt new habits and technology in order to follow their favourite sports.
Brands need to work out how best to reach and interact with this sports-driven audience as it develops and it is vital that marketers create strategies to take advantage of the media opportunities surrounding key sporting events.
Watching sports online via video is proving a primary draw. According to EIAA data, nearly 40% of sports site users watch TV, film or video clips online, much more so than the average European internet user (39% vs. 30%).
Alison Fennah, executive director of the EIAA, said: “With a definite correlation between the increase of users of sports sites and the key sporting events over the past year, sports fans are becoming a targeted demographic this year.
“Looking at their online habits and activities, sport site users are likely to increasingly move their sports consumption online partly due to its ease of use and accessibility, and but also its real-time availability and technological capabilities.
“Ultimately this highlights how marketers can target and benefit from this captive and engaged audience online, especially when the big sporting events demand attention. Marketers must look to tap into this trend and media mindset when creating and developing their advertising campaigns.”
The study involved 7,008 random telephone interviews with over 1,000 respondents in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Nordics respectively and 500 respondents in Belgium and the Netherlands respectively. Interviews were conducted throughout September 2007.
comScore releaed a report which revealed that almost 90% of the UK online population watched over three million internet videos in December (see Almost 90% Of UK Web Users Watch Video Online).
The figures show that Google’s YouTube remained the market leading video site in the UK, US, Canada, France and Germany.
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