A digital Ashes summer
On the third day of the third Test, the halfway point of the series, its ever more apparent how different cricket fans are following the action from years gone by.
In fact the way we consume almost all media has changed from just a few years ago. 10 years ago there wasn’t a smartphone in everyone’s hands, let alone signs of a tablet. It’s hard to believe but the first iPhone only came out in 2007 - two years after that historic Ashes series in England - and the first time we swiped on an iPad was a few months after the 2009 series.
We are living through a digital revolution and Sky’s cricket coverage is very much a part of that.
When you want to check the score, what do you naturally reach for? It might be your remote but just as likely to be your phone, tablet or laptop. You might turn on the TV, visit a website or click on an app. This summer, you have the opportunity to follow the Ashes wherever you are, however you want and as we’ve seen, people are getting involved in different ways.
Nearly 4m have watched our coverage of the Ashes on our dedicated channel, on Sky Go which is our mobile app for customers or on NOW TV, our internet streaming service where you get to watch without a contract. You can add to that Sky Sports News HQ, which reaches over 2m people a day providing news reports and highlights from the game every hour.
In addition to this traditional ‘linear’ TV coverage, there have been 2.8m video clip views online and on social media. Just to show you how things can change so quickly, embedded social media clips weren’t even part of the 2013 Ashes coverage for Sky Sports.
3m users have viewed our live blog on the Sky Sports website and apps and there has been over 60m views to Sky’s cricket twitter feed.
That’s an incredible increase on the digital audience of the last home Ashes series in 2013.
When you consider these trends you realise that you don’t have to be sitting in front of your TV to be a part of the Ashes anymore.
Not only is there the chance to follow the action, but also to be in control of it. The Ashes Event Centre on the Sky Sports for iPad app is back and it offers the opportunity to choose from up to 17 camera angles to watch the action. You can relive decisive moments from each day via the match timeline and use Hawk-Eye to analyse every ball at home
So our coverage comes with a dedicated channel, a companion app, the best presenters, uninterrupted coverage from ball one to the end of play, highlights, analysis, debates, masterclasses and much more – all of which can accessed any way our viewers want it.
More people are following the Ashes on Sky Sports than ever before. And as the drama of this ‘digital Ashes’ unfolds, it’s no surprise sports fans are taking the chance to get involved in whatever way suits them.