Daily Research News Online no. 5732

Too Hot to Work

July 19 2006

The summer is hot, and British audiences have sport and entertainment very much on their minds, it seems. Surveys and analyses out this week reveal the popularity of the Sport Relief web site; the growing numbers watching World Cup matches on the 'Net or on mobiles; the importance of the grey market to the success of music festivals; and the success of Wilson racquets at Wimbledon.

Sport Relief, the fundraising initiative from Comic Relief and BBC Sport, saw its web site become the most visited humanitarian site in the UK this month as donors log on to support tens of thousands of runners covering one mile for the charity last Saturday. Online competitive intelligence service Hitwise says that Sport Relief rose from 4th position to 1st in the week ending 8th July. Among all UK sites, the site's ranking reached #282 on 15th July, up from #1,028 a week earlier.

'The sharp increase in visits to the Sport Relief website demonstrates the power of fundraising events and campaigns to drive online traffic' according to Heather Hopkins, Director of Research for Hitwise UK. Among the top search terms sending visits to the Sport Relief site were searches for Little Britain star David Walliams, whose cross channel swim in an impressive 10.5 hours received a great deal of publicity and helped fuel public interest in the day. Walliams featured in four of the top 20 search terms sending visits to the Sport Relief web site in the four weeks ending 15th July 2006.

Sport Relief is at www.sportrelief.com and Hitwise at www.hitwise.com .

Almost 2.5 million UK adults (5% of the population) watched live coverage of the World Cup via their PC, according to research by GfK NOP. Almost 1 million consumers claimed to watch World Cup highlights on a mobile phone (2%). TV continues to be the main source of both live coverage (69% of the UK population) and viewing of recorded highlights (44% of the UK population). 16% of 16-24 year olds claimed to watch live coverage via their PC and 6% watched highlights on a mobile phone.

Colin Strong, Head of Mobile Comms research at GfK Technology comments: 'These findings illustrate the way in which media consumption is becoming increasingly multi-modal with the PC and mobile phone playing a key role for many consumers. Events such as this are immensely important for driving access to content over new channels.'

The research was conducted between 23rd and 25th June. London-based GfK NOP is on the web at www.gfknop.co.uk .

Wilson has maintained its position as the overall number 1 racket of choice at the Wimbledon Championships, according to Sports Marketing Surveys 22nd Racket, Clothing and Equipment Census. Not only is it the choice of reigning (nay, perpetual) champion Roger Federer, it was also the most used racket among participatns in the junior event, promising well for the future. Babolat continues to be the preferred racket of Ladies Singles competitors, with the Men's Singles dominated by Head.

The agency also provides stats for the total time the winners' rackets would have been visible on a show court: Ladies Singles winner Amelie Mauresmo's Dunlop racket was visible on one of the 6 designated courts for a total of 9 hours and 23 minutes, and Federer's Wilson for 11 hours and 58 minutes.

Nike and adidas now account for over two thirds of all player footwear at the Championships.

The agency is online at www.sportsmarketingsurveys.com . An order form for the full report (out 21st July) is available at www.sportinginsights.com/2006/censusorder.htm .

A quarter of the UK's 55-64 year olds want to go to music festivals - with potential to bring in a massive £88 million to UK festival industry, according to research by TNS OnLineBus.

TNS says these 'empty nesters' already have 'a reputation for indulgent living and year-round holidays'. The survey reveals the respect of older respondents for Glastonbury - overall, 43% of people voted Glastonbury the number one festival, but only 30% of those aged 16-24. 25-34 and 35-44 year old fans show the strongest support. Overall, T in the Park came in a distant second, with just 10 per cent of votes and Reading and V 3rd= with 7%.

TNS notes that 'despite the paid-off mortgage and robust pension plans' the older generation are more reluctant to pay high prices for tickets, with those aged 55-64 happy to pay an average of just £59 for a weekend festival ticket - rising to £81 for those aged 16-24.

Sue Homeyard, Group Director, TNS Omnibus, comments: 'Music festivals are an intrinsic part of British summers. From Glastonbury to Hampton Court Palace, we love spending time outdoors and supporting our favourite bands - and the grey market is no exception. It's sad to see that the rising ticket prices are beginning to deter even the hardiest of fans - and with the growing popularity of free events, we expect to see a gradual shift away from the all-weekend events in favour of these. The big festival organisers need to listen to their customers - and recognise that the under-25s aren't the only market with festival cash to flash.'

Results are from TNS OnLineBus, an Internet-based consumer omnibus survey, and are based on a representative sample of 1018 GB adults aged 16-64, conducted between 4th and 6th July. TNS' group home page is at www.tns-global.com .