Irish football fans who have been banished from the sitting room for the duration of the World Cup have taken to their mobile devices to watch the tournament from the comfort of the spare room or garden shed.
According to RTÉ Digital, over 1m streams have been watched on mobile devices since the tournament kicked off two weeks ago and there is still another two weeks to go.
The biggest day for online viewing so far was Monday June 23rd, with two exclusive World Cup matches on RTÉ Player and RTÉ.ie/worldcup – Croatia v Mexico and Australia v Spain – generating over 139,000 streams for the evening’s matches.
RTÉ’s dedicated World Cup site has also proved hugely engaging for fans with over 3.7 million page impressions across RTÉ.ie/worldcup and the World Cup section on RTÉ News Now.
The 2014 World Cup has also seen changes in how audiences are accessing RTÉ‘s online coverage. According to ComScore’s Digital Analytics, 35% of RTÉ Sport’s World Cup live streaming, on RTÉ Player and on RTÉ Sport’s World Cup site is being viewed on a mobile, tablet or smart device. Some 58% of the online audience is watching on a PC with 21% tuning in on mobile, and 14% on tablet, while others are catching the action on smart TVs and games consoles.
“Interestingly we’ve seen a change in how online matches are consumed depending on the time of day and where people are viewing”, says Lucy Campbell, director of marketing for RTÉ Digital. “Mobile phone usage for example is higher earlier in the evening. The appetite for online consumption is increasing and the share of mobile viewing is growing also. With the huge selection of matches available to audiences on our RTÉ Player and through a really comprehensive dedicated RTÉ World Cup website, no one is missing out on key World Cup games or information with the ability to literally view games anytime and anywhere”.
All 64 World Cup games are being streamed LIVE on RTÉ Player and via RTÉ.ie/worldcup. As well as live matches, RTE.ie/worldcup2014 also offers some extra content including, for the first time, live in-game statistics during every single game and a live feed for match statistics, accessible via any mobile device. In addition, fans can also catch up on matches they have missed and the RTÉ Player until July 16th.
