FIFA World Cup - Football Fans Enjoy TVNZ's Coverage

FIFA World Cup - Football Fans Enjoy TVNZ's Coverage
TUESDAY 15 JULY

Germany has won the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, and the tournament has also given TVNZ a huge win with football fans. Integrated coverage on TV ONE and Ondemand provided viewers with the biggest games of the tournament live and free-to-air.

All 22 of TVNZ’s games screened on TV ONE and TVNZ Ondemand simultaneously, with viewers able to watch live or catch-up later on any device. There was also a daily highlights show, which provided the opportunity to see the best moments from the games that weren’t screening in full.

Audience numbers grew throughout the tournament, with the most-watched game being the Final betweenGermany and Argentina at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Monday 14 July. On TV ONE, this attracted an incredible 419,000 viewers on average across the game (All 5+), surpassing the FIFA 2010 Final by 42,000 viewers. Online, the streaming total for the Final reached more than 100,000.

TVNZ’s GM Programming, John Kelly says, “Our viewers loved when we offered the option to watch the2013 America’s Cup both online and on television and we were really happy they embraced this way of viewing again with FIFA. We are thrilled with the number of New Zealanders we reached with our coverage on both platforms and about the quality of programme the team offered. Martin Devlin has done an outstanding job as host of every match and Highlights programme, as have our crew who worked tirelessly at all hours and our guest experts Noah Hickey, Steven Sumner and Danny Hay.”

Total online streams across the whole tournament reached over 800,000 (including live streams and catch-up content).

Jason Foden, TVNZ’s GM Ondemand, says, “The total number of streams has exceeded our expectations - culminating in over 100,000 streams for the final game between Germany and Argentina. We’re excited that we have the ability to bring live streamed events to New Zealanders, and we look forward to doing so again in the future.”

Almost a quarter (24%) of all online streams were on mobiles, and rose to more than 30% on weekends, proving how much fans enjoyed being able to view matches any time and any place. This has been invaluable for overcoming the challenges of the NZ-Brazil time difference - as viewers could catch-up on the 4.00amgames later in the day, and could watch at the office or on the move. This flexibility also saw online streaming numbers increase on weekdays, while TV ONE viewership increased on weekends when more fans were able to watch at home.

Foden adds; “This has been a phenomenal World Cup. We’ve been delighted to offer viewers the best of all the action in Brazil via streaming when they couldn’t watch the broadcast on television. Nothing beats watching the biggest sporting event in the world live, and this integrated coverage has enabled more New Zealanders to enjoy this exciting event.”

TVNZ would like to thank the sponsors of our FIFA coverage, Nike and TAB, for their support.

*TV ratings source: Nielsen TAM, Overnight (AP 5+)
*Online streaming source: Brightcove Analytics & Omniture

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