Yesterday’s DMX Conference in Dublin revealed that 65% of people are now using digital devices as their ‘first screen’ while watching television in the corner as their second.
It’s a staggering change in emphasis from even 12 months ago but will be nodded at in any home where parents and children sit together to watch an event on TV but are more focused on commenting and catching up on the smartphone or tablets they hold in their hands.
The future for TV remains bright though because that is what is driving the collective social engagement and in no way more so than through sport. The figures below are from the US media company Nielsen and they reveal that 50% of the total tweets around TV programmes in the last six months were about sports events. That’s as much combined as big shows like the X Factor or the conclusion of Breaking Bad and other TV events.
An important factor for brands looking to associate with these events as either sponsors or engaging with their own audience is that the average sports fan also tweets 32 times around an event, as opposed to an average of only nine about new premieres.
Sport is social. We know that. Now here is clear proof that sport is social media as well. Are brands and sports ready to take advantage?
Also check out these figures on sports consumption through ESPN from January
