Sport driving increase in mobile TV

A survey conducted by multiscreen video technology company QuickPlay Media has found that people who use a mobile device to watch sport are far more likely to increase their overall mobile viewing consumption.

The survey of 1,000 18-44 year olds found that 84% who had watched a major sporting event on a mobile device increased the amount of TV they watched on the device. The Olympic Games were a significant driver of mobile TV services, with 52% of respondents saying they watched at least one Olympic event on a smartphone or tablet.

The proportion of people consuming TV or video on a mobile device increased to 63% from 51% a year earlier, the report found, with half of respondents preferring to watch live TV on mobile devices, and 40% preferring on-demand content.  Just over half of all respondents said they watched mobile videos at least once a week. Of those, 16% view mobile content every day.

“These survey results are consistent with what we are seeing in our customer base: Live TV is becoming a primary driver of demand for multiscreen services,” said Wayne Purboo, CEO of QuickPlay Media. “The 2012 Olympics shattered records for mobile video viewing, and this is driving longer term consumer demand across a plethora of mobile devices. To capitalise on this demand service providers are looking for cost effective solutions that enable them to rapidly scale multiscreen services while maintaining security and quality of the consumer viewing experience. As a result we are seeing more and more companies looking to managed services as a solution to scale at speed.”