Multitasking Sports viewers engaged with advertising.

American sports fans are doing a lot more than just sitting back watching the big game on TV, according to the results of a study by Solutions Research Group. The company interviewed nearly 1,000 sports fans who watched one of the finals of three recent major sporting events between April and June 2007, including the NCAA final championship game, the final round of the Masters Golf Tournament and the 4th and final NBA championship game.

Among the key findings:

Sports TV Viewing is ‘connected viewing’

— Among viewers of the NBA final, 58% were instant messaging, emailing, texting or talking on the phone as they watched the game. Among viewers 12-34, 72% were engaged in one of these activities. The results were similar for the NCAA final game-66% of 12-34 viewers were connecting with someone via Internet or a phone-texting or talking-as they were watching.

— Those using the Internet or a mobile device during the game were connecting with 3.1 people on average. 70% connected with friends, co-workers, boy or girlfriends while 40% mentioned family members.

— Conversations centered around predictions about who would win, team performances, scores, specific players or big plays.

— When asked, 36% of all viewers said that they discussed or mentioned at least one of the commercials aired during the game as they were texting or messaging.

Connected viewers show higher levels of recall of and engagement with advertising

— Viewers were asked to mention any ads they remembered seeing the day after the broadcast on an open-ended, unaided basis. Among those who connected with others via instant messaging, texting or cellular phone during the game, 60% were able to name at least one specific ad, compared to 46% among those who were not engaged in these activities.

— Among viewers under 35 who were instant messaging or texting, a remarkable 78% were able to mention at least one ad they had seen on an unaided basis.

For young viewers, ‘watching TV alone’ is a thing of the past

— Among those 12-34 watching the NBA or NCAA final on their own, two-in-three were virtually connecting with a friend or family member via the Internet or a mobile device throughout the game.

— Those 35 and older were three times more likely to watch a final game on their own and without connecting via technology compared to those under 35.

WHAT IT MEANS

Multitasking while watching TV is typically associated with distraction and a lack of focus. This research suggests that connected viewing via the Internet or a mobile device in fact fuels greater engagement not just with the event but also with advertising messages contained within that event.

And connected viewing is now the norm among young audiences. For advertisers, becoming a part of this new conversation is more important then ever. And programs that integrate mobile and broadband can be particularly effective ways of increasing frequency of message. There are also opportunities in becoming ‘facilitators’ of conversations during big sports TV events.

While sports ratings overall have been in decline, it’s clear that sports TV events deliver engaged audiences given the rise of instant messaging and texting.

Watching the Big Event is a new ongoing series of surveys analyzing viewer behavior during major events on TV, broadband and mobile. So far in 2007, the surveys covered nearly 1,000 sports fans-the NCAA final championship game between Florida and Ohio State (401 respondents), the final Sunday round of the Masters Golf Tournament (266 respondents) and the 4th and final NBA championship game between Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs (250 respondents). The studies use high quality, professionally-managed panels which represent the U.S. online population by age, gender, region and ethnicity.

For more information at http://www.srgnet.com