Velti on Thursday published the results of a nationwide poll showing 40 percent of those who plan to follow the Olympics this summer will do so on two or more devices.
As MMW previously reported, once the Opening Ceremonies commence on July 27th, for 17 days more than 32,000 content creators including 11,000+ athletes and 21,000 media broadcasters will be in London Instagramming, Tweeting and otherwise documenting The 2012 Olympics Games, like never before.
What those numbers don’t include, however, are the 4.9 billion viewers worldwide with access to over 5,500 hours of events, who will be engaging with friends over social media across multiple screens while soaking in the games.
With a heightened awareness of the role mobile will play in Olympics coverage and viewing, Velti found that 35 percent of adults in the U.S. will turn to their tablet for news and coverage, while 27 percent will use their smartphone.
Of those using a smartphone to follow the games, 45 percent will access video clips and replays, while 41 percent plan to stream live coverage via a browser. Fifty percent of tablet users will watch videos and replays on their browser, while 45 percent will stream live coverage. This is the first year the Olympic Games will stream all 32 sports live.
“This survey reveals that a significant number of Americans are choosing to consume Olympic content on the go, and while doing so they’re overwhelmingly turning to mobile browsers,” said Krishna Subramanian, Chief Marketing Officer of Velti. “Further, the Olympic audience is becoming more fragmented. For brands that want to reach Olympic viewers, this is an important finding as it highlights the ability to look beyond TV and focus on secondary devices such as smartphones and tablets.”