Wanna Watch The Game? Stay In the Car, Says Gracenote
Image courtesy of Gracenote
With sports rights migrating to streaming, it is getting harder and harder for fans to find where to watch their favorite teams play at home.
It’s even harder on the road. Literally. In cars. There will be more listening and watching sports in cars as more vehicles become autonomous, a fancy way of describing cars that drive themselves.
If a car is driving itself, what are the passengers going to do? Probably watch some sort of video, and right now and for the foreseeable future, the most attractive form of video, both for viewers and the advertisers trying to reach them, is sports.
All of that explains why Gracenote, Nielsen’s content data business, is excited about Gracenote Nexus Auto, a new product the company says transforms connected cars into sports hubs.
Gracenote says it has data covering 70 of the world’s most popular sports. By using that data, Gracenote can help automakers create in-car experiences that make it easy for fans to find their favorite teams, leagues and players.
That would include helping to easily find game coverage, including pre-game, live and post-game telecasts on terrestrial or streaming radio as well as video services.
Gracenote Nexus Auto can also hook up vehicles with live scores. The scores, as well as results and standings, could be displayed on a screen in the car. If you don’t have to drive, that’s probably more interesting than GPS.
The product can also help passengers access popular podcasts about their favorite sports, leagues, teams and players.
Gracenote anticipates that automakers will want to be able to provide these kinds of entertainment services in order to make their vehicles attractive to new car buyers.
“Automakers have a big opportunity to build user affinity by turning their infotainment offerings into centralized hubs for sports content,” said Trent Wheeler, head of innovation at Gracenote. “Based on deep expertise helping platforms and services connect consumers to the sports they want, Gracenote is uniquely positioned to bring personalized sports experiences to the connected car space.”
Today’s cars are already basically computers on wheels. As they become more autonomous, less of the time consumers spend in cars will be devoted to driving and more will be devoted to entertainment. New forms of entertainment may pop up to meet the new demand, but it feels like sports will always be popular, whether you’re sitting on a couch or in the driver’s seats.
As it adds driverless cars to its fleet, Uber has launched an in-house advertising unit to capitalize on being able to put commercials in front of the audiences captured while taking a ride.
At the upfronts last week, the big media companies put a big emphasis on sports, and ad buyers know that live sports is the place to reach engaged viewers. In the future, viewers won’t have to miss a big game, closing rally or game winning shot because they had to drive somewhere. In-vehicle viewing will be a boon for sports fans and the brands that covet their attention — even at 60 miles per hour.
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Ad-tech company Sabio Holdings said it made a deal to get its Creator Television free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel distributed by LiveTVx, Anoki’s FAST service on Google TV devices.
Creator TV produces and distributes original TV shows led by social media stars, the company said.
"Anoki's LiveTVx provides a unified and intuitive user experience, helping users find the content they want to watch — a perfect environment for Creator TV to thrive," said Joe Ochoa, co-founder and general manager, Creator TV. "Sabio is excited to bring diverse, creator-led programming to Anoki's unique TV experience and the audiences it attracts.
The deal with Anoki follows distribution agreements with Plex and Sling Freestream.
"Creators are the true content innovators of our time, and their unique voice and storytelling approach are redefining the streaming TV landscape," added Charlie Ibarra, co-founder and head of content at Creator TV. "By blending the authenticity of user-generated content with the structure of traditional television, creator-led shows are delivering a fresh, dynamic entertainment experience on platforms like Anoki."
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Broadcast TV is still alive and kicking. ABC yesterday bragged that the season finale of American Idol drew 6.51 million total viewers, its best in two years and up 24% from the previous season, according to Nielsen Live Plus Same Day data.
‘American Idol’ (Photo courtesy of ABC)
Remember ratings? Idol drew a 0.72 rating among adults 18-49, That’s up 16% from the previous year.
The show was the No. 1 program for the night as Jamal Roberts was named champion.
The finale also set a new voting record on ABC, with more than 26 million votes cast.
In the coming days we’ll get more viewership info about Idol, including delayed viewing plus streaming viewing on Hulu.