By Chris Wagner, EVP and co-founder, NeuLion
Can life get any better? The NCAA Men’s basketball tournament is heating up and as we get ready for the Final Four the madness is everywhere…. not just on your television set. Remember when you could not watch live sports on the internet? Or even more recently, when there was buffering through every shot and pass? Those days are gone and fan adoption rates for online viewing have grown by leaps and bounds, and it’s easy to see why: the quality of video is stunning, service (for most networks) functions beautifully and the integration between consumer connected devices is only getting better.
Clearly, sports are driving online usage for the digital industry. Just look at the numbers for the NCAA tournament. According to Turner Sports, which manages NCAA March Madness Live, thus far there have been more than 51 million live video streams, which is an increase of 40% year over year for the Tournament.
At NeuLion, our business consists of being the leading Internet video technology provider for live and on-demand interactive content to any Internet-enabled device. We delivered more than 47,000 live sports events last year, and all that video adds up to 154 Petabytes of live streaming video to PC, mobile devices, game consoles and other connected tk other word. One Petabyte equals 13.3 years of HD TV – so we are talking about a lot of streaming. From 2010 to 2013, video streaming for NeuLion networks in total grew by more than 300 percent.
Use of other platforms is also driving this trend. The Microsoft Xbox One launch with the NFL Network delivers a stunning 60 frames per second, twice that of standard TV; and the service tops out at 6 mbps of live HD streaming for the Xbox One user. Combined with personalization, fantasy NFL features, live stats and more, what else does a fan need to watch and enjoy interactive sports delivered on digital?
Interactive live sports on digital are money makers. Fans stay online longer, traffic is greater, and there are more opportunities than ever to trigger new subscription revenue. Just ask the NHL: their Game Center Live service has seen consistent growth year over year since its launch. Hockey fans have adopted, renewed and recommended to fellow fans a whole new way of experiencing a live game. Key features for fans now include choices between a home and away video feed, watching up to 4 games at once and following live stats synchronized to the game clock. Other engagement-enhancing interactive features include multiple camera angles and audio feeds that give fans different points of view around the action. Through NeuLion’s network of professional and sports customers, we see a variety of engagement times; live game engagement is typically greater than 60 minutes, as most users will watch the entire game. Meanwhile, engagement time for on-demand content is significantly shorter: between 2 – 5 minutes with users limiting their watching to in-game highlights and favorite plays of the game.
In short , the levels of interaction being provided through digital experiences allow viewers to control how, what and when they want to watch. We firmly believe that sports will continue to be the last fixed appointment viewers keep as the rest of the entertainment industry moves to on-demand programming. Watching a game live in real-time never loses its pull and now with both social media and interactive controls as part of the mix, viewers have even more opportunities to enjoy games and the viewing experience in depth and to tailor their watching to their own specific interests. This shift will continue to open up the floodgates for further innovation to the digital viewer experience… stay tuned for more!
Chris Wagner has been a driving force in the technology industry for more than 20 years. In this capacity, he has worked closely with executives from many major corporations as well as entrepreneurs who have needed technology to support the growth of their businesses. In his current position as Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of NeuLion, Wagner targets the revolution currently underway as the television and internet video industries converge. Wagner has held numerous executive positions in the technology sector. The growth of internet television on computers, tablets, mobile, and internet connected devices, has given him the opportunity to work closely with the largest brands in the sports and entertainment industries including NFL, NHL, UFC, NBA, Rainbow Media and many others.
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