Networks owned by The Walt Disney Co. averaged a U.S. record 3.2 million viewers per live 2010 World Cup match, according to Nielsen data. Factoring in out-of-home usage and time spent with other platforms, that figure jumps to 4.7 million, according to the ESPN XP research initiative.
According to Knowledge Networks, out-of-home viewing and usage of non-TV platforms added 46% to daily World Cup TV average audience, with the former providing a 14% lift and the other vehicles adding 32%.
As such, the 3.2 million average audience, which was up 41% from the 2006 World Cup in Germany, reached 4.7 million when the other platforms were considered.
While ABC's coverage of the 2010 final, Spain's 1-0 win over The Netherlands on July 11 netted an average audience of 15.5 viewers, making it the most-watched Men's World Cup telecast ever, ESPN XP estimates the total audience at 18.1 million, when out-of-home viewing and consumption on the other platforms were calculated.
Elsewhere, the research indicated that 160.5 million person engaged with ESPN's varied World Cup platforms -- TV, radio, Internet, mobile, magazine -- some 55% of all Americans. On the average day, 90% of users watched ESPN content on TV, 27% used the Internet, 11% listened to radio, 6% used mobile and 2% read ESPN The Magazine.
According to the research, since 90% of daily users watched on TV, 10% of persons consuming ESPN World Cup content did so solely on some platform, which provided an incremental audience of 11.3% lift over the TV reach.
Typically during the tournament, 26% of those who used World Cup content on ESPN were multiplatform consumers. This group, though, constituted 47% of the usage of World Cup content on the average day. The multiplatform user spent an average 3 hours 29 minutes consuming World Cup content - 2 hours 24 minutes of that watching on TV, compared to 1 hour 24 minutes for the TV-only viewer.
The more platforms used, the more time spent with content. In fact, the 1% who consumed the World Cup on all five of the aforementioned platforms averaged 7 hours 35 minutes of World Cup usage daily.
Radio had the greatest proportion of out-of-home usage, accounting for 54% of radio listening, with Internet and mobile were in the second tier, with over a quarter of usage of each done out-of-home.
The platforms with the biggest percent of in-home usage were TV (88%) and magazine (81%).
Locations of out-of-home usage varied widely. As a whole, 41% of ESPN World Cup out-of-home consumption was done at work, 18% in a bar or restaurant, 17% in a car, and 24% in other locations. Internet out-of-home consumption strongly favored usage at work (72%).
Although about the same proportion of Internet and Mobile consumption was done out of home, the locations of mobile use were quite different: 47% was conducted at work, 29% in a bar, restaurant or car, compared to just 9% for the Internet.
Not surprisingly, over half of radio listening was done in the car, but over a third was done at work.
The ESPN XP collective, comprising data from15 top-tier companies as well as the Wharton Interactive Media Initiative, will attempt to measure media usage and advertiser effects across the five media platforms for the month-long FIFA event. A more comprehensive study is expected to be released this fall.
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