More than a third of Europeans claim they will watch the Olympic Games online this year, according to a survey by Riverbed Technologies.
Riverbed says the results of the survey raise questions over whether Web sites will cope with the increased demand for live-streaming during the games.
The study was carried out in April across Europe, and included a total of 23 508 respondents from the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands. While there will be an expected increase in the number of Europeans watching online, live TV is still the most preferred viewing option.
According to the study, the men's 100m sprint final will be the Olympic event most likely to be watched online. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they would watch it that way. The second most popular event to be watched online is expected to the men's 100m freestyle swimming event, followed by the men's football final.
Despite having the games on their doorstep, according to the survey, UK residents are the most likely to watch the events online. Thirty-three percent say they will watch online more than any other year, and a further 26% said they will watch online as much as they have in the past.
Riverbed says approximately one in five Europeans said they were more likely to watch this year's games online compared to previous years. More than half of the respondents also said they would not tolerate delays of over two minutes before switching to another source to view the games.
Apurva Dav'e, VP of products for the Stingray Business Unit at Riverbed, says Europeans are clearly changing their viewing habits and service providers should adapt accordingly.
“Global sporting events like Olympic Games often create traffic spikes as people use their PCs, laptops or mobile devices to watch their favourite athletes, get real-time updates on events, and purchase event-related merchandise. Organisations must take extra measures to meet the demand spike created by the Olympics.
“If they do not, and their Web sites are not responsive at peak times, then they could see their viewers giving up and choosing to watch the games through other means instead - that potentially means lost advertising revenue and forgone e-commerce opportunities.”
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