"An average of more than 6.2 million people tuned in live to watch the Billabong Pipe Masters, where Mr. Medina won his first title. Those numbers exceeded the American television audience for the final game of the 2014 Stanley Cup hockey finals. Not a second of the surfing competition was shown on traditional live television in the United States; instead, it was streamed on YouTube, with 35 to 40 percent of its viewers on mobile." http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/b...NextInCollection®ion=Footer&pgtype=article 'Professional surfing, on the other hand, has adopted an online-first approach. Its strategy is the brainchild of ZoSea Media Holdings, which acquired the Association of Surfing Professionals in 2013 and, at the start of the 2015 season, rebranded it as the World Surf League. The surfing association had operated as a loosely affiliated group of fiefs, but Mr. Speaker, a former marketing executive at the N.F.L., eliminated the balkanized structure and created a single broadcast platform. YouTube then approached the newly formed World Surf League to become their exclusive global digital partner, providing their streaming software to be embedded on the league’s new website, as well as on YouTube’s site and apps. The W.S.L. has not jettisoned the networks altogether — it has teamed with a few select regional channels like MCS Extreme in Europe for live broadcasts, and a few national networks like ABC for highlight and prepackaged shows. “Our strategy has been, since the beginning, let’s remove all stop signs and turn them into welcome mats,” Mr. Speaker said. “YouTube has that footprint.” In making everything available online, the W.S.L. has solidified its growth in a key demographic: More than 67 percent of its audience is between 25 and 44 years old. Engagement across their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat accounts nearly doubled, while simultaneously dwarfing engagement rates of larger, more established leagues. The N.F.L.’s Facebook page has some 12.5 million likes compared with the surfing league’s 2.3 million likes. Yet the engagement that the league has per post — likes, comments and shares — is on par with the N.F.L., according to data provided by the organization. In a few months, the surfing league will be opening W.S.L. Studios, a 6,000-square foot production space in its Santa Monica, Calif., headquarters. The studio will be heavily investing in creating programming to fill gaps during live broadcasting, but will also be exporting shareable and original shows, documentaries and highlight reels, something akin to N.F.L. Films in football’s earlier days.'
interesting. sounds like more of everything; including fluff and ads. like the olympics which i find difficult to watch. because of fluff and ads. but, hey, i'll be watching.
