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| Super Bowl XLVIII logo |
As the Seattle Seahawks summarily slaughtered the
Denver Broncos during the Super Bowl over the past weekend, 528,000 unique viewers
tuned in to watch the big game on a device that wasn't their home television.
The event was streamed legally online, via the NFL
and FoxSports.com websites,
as well as through the NFL Mobile
and FOXSports Go apps.
While FOX’s app normally requires a paid
subscription, they allowed viewers to try it out for free just for the game, in
an effort to highlight their mobile advancements.
2014 is the third straight year that streaming
viewership has increased, from 508,000 on CBS’ website last year and 346,000 on
NBC’s in 2012, reported a FOX press release.
This year’s game became the most-watched event in
United States television history, with 111.5 million viewers, trouncing the
previous record of 2012’s Super Bowl, which had 111.3 million.
As the concept of utilizing phones and alternative
technologies for viewing sports and TV shows receives more and more attention,
advertisers, broadcasters and media businesses are looking for the best methods
to monetize overall consumption and develop strategies for seeking out individual
viewers.
In fact, many companies are discovering that ads
released or teased online prior to the airing of the game are more effective.
According to Tim Calkins, a Northwestern University marketing professor, “It is not about winning the Super Bowl but winning an entire month.” A Budweiser spot featuring a puppy and a Clydesdale horse gained considerable traction, as did an endeavor from Cheerios showcasing a family.
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Visible Measures, a video analytics firm, observed that from 2010-2014, the number
of companies engaging in pre-game advertising has continually gone up
Previously, research companies such as Omniture (Web
analytics) and mDialog (video
advertising) tracked streaming data; the former was acquired by Adobe, where
they now monitor social media mentions, while the latter has recently emerged
as an industry leader, securing two innovative patents for “dynamically
inserting content into streaming media.”
Looking ahead,
digital-only second-screen ads will likely become the mainstay, with those who
stream sporting events receiving advertisements selected specifically for that
platform, or even microtargeted per individual. Anvato,
Fox Sports’ streaming video platform provider, acknowledged as much in a press
release Monday, proclaiming that “ads different from the traditional TV ads”
were deployed.
With this burgeoning movement,
questions arise. Will the prices for these new mobile ads reach the soaring
costs of the television ones, which hit approximately $4 million for 30 seconds?
And will advertisers request packages that include digital and traditional
advertisements?
Author: Brian Cameron
Author: Brian Cameron
Follow @FYITV
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