RTÉ has revealed a rise of over 60% in digital content consumption around this year’s dramatic RBS 6 Nations Rugby.
Visits to the dedicated site rose from 3.13 million in 2014 to 5.04 million this year. The site was created in house by RTÉ for the tournament and was sponsored as part of an overall package by Ulster Bank.
RTÉ’s investment in digital is paying dividends with live streamed matches watched on devices other than the traditional television a total of 520,000 times, up by 44,000 on the number from 2014. Over half of the total views for all content, including clips and ‘Against the Head’ were on mobile or tablet devices.
On television the viewing figures for the tournament as a whole were the highest for ten years with a high set with the average audience of 1.01 million for the Ireland victory over England on March 1st. That’s 12% up on last year’s high for the Championship deciding game against France. The peak audience for that game topped 1.2 million and there were an additional 100,780 streams on digital devices.
The average viewing figures for the dramatic conclusion to the tournament were 697,000 for Ireland vs Scotland and 656,500 for France vs England. The latter had a higher peak figure at 892,000.
The figures were echoed on the BBC with its BBC Sport website reaching 8.22 million unique browsers during the final day of the Championship, breaking the previous record established during the London 2012 Olympics.
Record numbers in advance of the Rugby World Cup bode well for the sport to continue to reach out to mass market audiences though the opportunity for a massive increase in revenue through the move towards pay-TV is looming large with negotiations already underway about the next 6 Nations contract from 2017.
Read the Sport for Business Opinion on Rugby’s TV future here
