Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Britons who’ll watch the Olympics on TV will use an internet-connected device at the same time – according to research from marketing technology experts RadiumOne.
Among the 64% of second-screeners, online activity unrelated to the Olympics will be the most popular activity (53% of second-screeners doing this), followed by online chat/Instant Messaging about the event they’re watching (31%), searching online for event-related information or chatting on the phone about what’s on (both 30%).
Nearly all (97%) of Olympic TV viewers will watch it at home, much higher than the recent Euro 2016 football championships (58%). Only 20% plan to watch the Olympics at a pub, half that for the Euros (39%).
“The Olympics is much less of a social viewing experience than the Euros, which is good news for advertisers as attention is much more likely to be on the TV or a connected device than other people or surroundings,” says Craig Tuck, RadiumOne’s UK managing director. “Further good news is the large amount of second-screening enables sponsors and other advertisers looking to get in on the act to target viewers with a similar profile to the TV audience online during broadcasts, which they can’t do on TV as it’s on the BBC.”
Tuck points out the moments that matter most for connecting online and TV activity are the most popular Olympic broadcasts – the opening (watched by 71% of Olympic TV viewers) and closing (60%) ceremonies and the BBC highlights shows (56%).
“In addition to these “moments”, individual events are also a great opportunity to tie online ads to the athletes taking part,” he says. “For example, Santander and Vitality Insurance can coordinate online ads with broadcasts of Jessica Ennis-Hill’s heptathlon events, who they sponsor, as could Puma and Virgin Media during Usain Bolt’s events.”