Australia’s obsession with sport is translating into a spike in uptake of streaming media.
Sport and entertainment digital services provider Perform has reported a doubling of subscriptions for Cricket Australia’s broadband TV channel CATV (www.cricket.com.au/tv) during the 2007-08 season. The surge in local and international traffic has been attributed to a site revamp in December which added functionality. Subscription numbers jumped 48% on last year’s figures, with 1.8 million on-demand video clips viewed over summer.
“The outstanding viewer response to CATV just goes to show how effectively Cricket Australia is servicing its fans through broadband video,” said Alex Peebles, Perform Australia general manager. “The service will continue to evolve through the 2008/09 season, both through enriching the content on offer and harnessing market-leading technologies.”
Perform designed and built the CATV site and is responsible for its ongoing management, which includes the live streaming of all Test matches and one-day internationals to countries where fans cannot access the content via television broadcast. The site also broadcasts daily highlights from both international and interstate fixtures, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and interviews as well as post-match comment and press conferences.
Perform recently secured a partnership with BigPond, to launch an Australian sport portal known as Aussiesport.tv. The site will manage and stream AFL, NRL and the V8 Supercars video to sports fans accessing the internet from outside Australia. The digital specialist operates over 200 websites including those for over 80 UK Football Clubs, Cricket Australia, Warner Music, ITV, Turner Broadcasting and works with various rights holders, including The Premier League, Virgin Media and the ATP Masters Series. DM
