Streaming scores a touchdown

This year’s Super Bowl changed the game on viewing as it broke all previous streaming records. 

CBS confirmed that 3.96 million unique viewers tuned in to watch the Broncos versus the Panthers across laptops, desktops, tablets, connected TV devices and mobile phones.

To contextualise how rapidly sports fans have evolved, last year NBC reported that 1.3 million people watched the Super Bowl through its web stream, which back then was a record.  Prior to that, Fox’s 2014 Super Bowl live stream had peaked at around 1.1 million viewers.

The flourish of streaming activity has spiked due to consumers growing appetite for viewing on their chosen devices as well as networks making streaming content more accessible.

This year CBS made the live stream available on its CBSSports.com website on PCs and tablet, via its CBS Sports app on iPad, Android, Windows 10 tablets, in addition  to connected TVs via Apple TV (3rd, 4th generation devices), Roku and Roku TV models, Google’s Chromecast, Microsoft Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV as well as select Android TV devices from Sony, Sharp and Phillips.

The event also produced a streaming flow on effect also with  YouTube stating that people spent 300,000 hours watching Super Bowl ads and teaser videos on its service during the game, and overall it saw nearly 4 million hours of ads and teasers watched so far.  While Facebook reported that 60 million people were discussing the game on the social network, with 200 million posts, comments and likes.

Industry pundits have claimed that the spike in streaming viewing for the live event points to broadcasters needing to invest in streaming infrastructure.

Data centre operator Interxion’s director of marketing and business development,  Bryan Hill said that  2016 will see more avenues of disruption and innovation through digital media, and cable TV risks going the way of print media.

“If a company is able to lay down their own infrastructure for content delivery, they will see fewer conflicts regarding territory rights for services offered,” he said.