Olahraga langsung menuju ke layanan streaming, dan penonton pun siap

As audiences continue to increase their streaming consumption, sports are ready to join the ranks of hit programs like Stranger Things, Hanya Pembunuhan di Dalam Gedung dan Obi-Wan Kenobi. And with new streaming-exclusive deals involving the NFL and MLS in play, fans are ready, as more than one-third of U.S. homes now access TV programming strictly through an internet connection¹.

While more than 90% of the homes in the U.S. have access to the internet, the growing abundance of video streaming services and content—both live and on-demand—provides audiences with ample choice outside of traditional TV options. And select sports leagues are transitioning as well. This year, the NFL’s Thursday Night Football (TNF) became exclusive to Amazon Prime Video; and starting next season, MLS matches will be exclusive to a new streaming service within the Apple TV app.

These two rights deals signal the shift that has been building as emerging digital platforms have progressively increased their stakes in sports rights. While some deals will continue to involve a mix of linear and streaming, such as the new Big Ten Conference deal, recent viewership trends illustrate how comfortable fans are in accessing sports content without traditional broadcast and cable access.

According to Wawasan Penggemar Nielsen, 80% of sports fans, 76% of NFL fans and 89% of soccer fans have regularly or sometimes watched sports on any streaming or online channel this year.

Dari perspektif menonton, penonton tampak jauh lebih terlibat dengan streaming pertandingan NFL di Amazon dibandingkan dengan menontonnya melalui TV kabel premium. Data pemirsa TV Nielsen menunjukkan bahwa tiga pertandingan pertama TNF di Amazon Prime Video tahun ini menarik lebih banyak pemirsa secara signifikan (masing-masing 13 juta, 11 juta, dan 11,7 juta) dibandingkan dengan masing-masing dari tujuh pertandingan hari Kamis tahun lalu yang hanya ditayangkan di NFL Network.

Data pemirsa ini menyoroti betapa banyak hal yang telah berubah sejak Twitter pertama kali menyiarkan 10 pertandingan TNF selama musim NFL 2016-17 di samping siaran tradisional, dan rumah-rumah yang mendapatkan konten TV mereka melalui koneksi internet sudah siap.

These homes, dubbed broadband-only homes², spend an oversized amount of time with sports programming, along with local and national news. Across the top 56 U.S. local markets where Nielsen measures TV audiences, BBO households are 36% more likely to watch sports events than the average TV household. In some markets, they are twice as likely to view sports events³.

As a genre, sports has been slower to migrate to streaming platforms, but audiences’ appetite for over-the-top content continues to grow. In August 2022, streaming captured 35% of total TV time, capping six consecutive months of viewership highs. Access preference is even clearer when we look at the decline in the number of TV households that receive their content solely from a cable or satellite provider.

Tidak mengherankan, susunan rumah tangga BBO telah meluas karena persentase rumah-rumah ini telah meningkat dari waktu ke waktu. Meskipun usia 25-34 tahun adalah usia yang paling banyak tinggal di rumah BBO (58,7%), konektivitas internet, akses ke internet, dan ketersediaan konten telah mengilhami adopsi di kalangan yang lebih luas. Sebagai contoh, lebih dari 51% anak-anak berusia 2-11 tahun tinggal di rumah BBO, begitu pula dengan hampir seperempat orang dewasa berusia 50-64 tahun. Lima tahun yang lalu, hanya 2,1% orang dewasa berusia 50-64 tahun yang tinggal di rumah BBO.

Bahkan dengan semakin meluasnya komposisi rumah BBO, mayoritas berusia lebih muda, berukuran lebih besar, dan berpenghasilan lebih tinggi daripada rata-rata rumah tangga di AS. Dan tidak mengherankan, konsentrasi tertinggi rumah BBO berada di wilayah metro besar, hanya karena akses infrastruktur.

Di tahun-tahun mendatang, kami memperkirakan komposisi rumah BBO dan konsentrasi geografisnya akan semakin meluas, sebagian besar karena banyaknya inisiatif yang diperkenalkan untuk menyediakan akses internet berkecepatan tinggi yang terjangkau dan dapat diandalkan di daerah-daerah yang kurang terlayani. 

On Sept. 22, 2022, for example, the Biden-Harris administration announced $502 million in loans and grants in the third funding round of the USDA’s ReConnect Program to provide rural residents and businesses in 20 states with high-speed internet access. In total, Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $65 billion to expand affordable, high-speed internet to all communities across the U.S. And at a more local level, an array of counties, cities and towns are making similar commitments to deliver and expand broadband infrastructure, such as Kenosha, Wis., rural North Carolina dan Whiteside County, Ill.

The increasing focus on new broadband infrastructure, coupled with Americans’ plans to increase their streaming usage in the coming year, serves as additional evidence that audiences will continue gravitating to over-the-top, digital content options, including sports—one of two genres that remains a fixture within traditional linear TV programming. Given the strong appetite for sports and news among BBO homes, combined with the significant audience engagement with the first TNF game on Amazon, it’s likely that streaming services will continue to expand by offering different genres that BBO viewers are clamoring for.

Catatan

1. Nielsen NPOWER
2. Rumah khusus broadband menerima program TV melalui koneksi internet berkecepatan tinggi
3. Pengukuran TV Lokal Nielsen Juli, 2022

A version of this article originally appeared on Streaming Media.