World Cup breaks online streaming records

“The record underlines the growing popularity of the competition, including a breakthrough in the U.S.

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The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil has set new records for streaming data traffic around the world, as football fans watch matches online in greater numbers than ever before.

A report from the FIFA Media Office shows that the ongoing FIFA World Cup broadcast production has already broken television viewing records in several territories around the world.

“The record underlines the growing popularity of the competition, including a breakthrough in the U.S.

“On the digital side, leading content delivery network provider Akamai has confirmed this is the biggest event in terms of video content streaming on record.

“And this was due to huge demand from fans accessing content live from the online platforms of FIFA’s Media Rights Licensees.

“In the U.S. alone, a record-breaking 5.3 million unique viewers tuned in for the round of 16 match between Belgium and the U.S. on ESPN and Univision platforms.

“This represented an unprecedented traffic for both broadcasters,” the report said.

It quoted FIFA’s Director of Television, Niclas Ericson, as saying the 2014 World Cup is the biggest multimedia event in history.

“We are proud to say that this FIFA World Cup has been the biggest multimedia sporting event in history, with more people watching matches and highlights online than ever before.

“FIFA TV actively supports its Media Rights Licensees with a variety of multimedia services including fully managed `white-label’ solutions for the web, tablets and smartphones.

“It is the first time that a project on such a scale has been offered to the broadcast community.

“The services are delivered by FIFA World Cup broadcast production service provider HBS, with the support of EVS, Netco Sports and deltatre.”

According to the report, 40 FIFA Media Rights Licensees have booked around 120 multimedia services for match coverage.

“This gives them the ability to livestream multiple feeds of FIFA World Cup matches and to offer video-on-demand coverage from up to 24
camera angles to fans across the planet.

“The FIFA World Cup `white-label’ second screen application has been downloaded more than 10 million times in more than 20 broadcast
territories since its launch at the start of June.

“This is up to three million fans accessing videos, statistics and live match content each day.

“Twenty-four million unique users have already watched some 15 million hours of content through FIFA’s multimedia services solutions alone.

“More and more football fans want to watch high quality, live coverage of matches on their tablets or mobile phones, as well as on their
televisions.

“These figures show just how fast our industry is adapting to a truly multimedia world. Only on the digital platforms can fans watch the
FIFA World Cup from every possible angle,” FIFA said.

(NAN)