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Author : Sandeep Chandak ;
Date : 23 Jun 2023
We have come a long way from fixing the antenna to commanding Alexa to change the channel of our choice. The rapid advancement of technology has completely transformed the broadcast industry, and Artificial Intelligence is at the forefront of this revolution.
Sports enthusiasts out there must have noticed the massive viewership of the FIFA World Cup and the ongoing IPL. Where FIFA has a viewership of 2 billion, and IPL is leading with over 250 million viewership to date.
That wouldn’t have been possible without AI integration by broadcasting companies. For both events, the streaming platforms have used the latest AI technologies resulting in accurate analytics, predictions, and engagement with no space for errors.
Technology has made people experience sports through different mediums. Be it the big television screen, handset, or laptop, the rise in consumers of sports has increased drastically. According to a report by KPMG, sports consumption on Smart TV has seen the highest increase of 722 million in the last nine months in India.
Another report by Nielsen says that in the United States, there’s a 25% decline in linear TV consumption from 2019-2022, whereas Smart TV consumption has increased to 81% in the same timeframe. Besides, the number of OTT subscribers has been raised from 13 million in 2018 to 70 million in 2021.
The stats suggest how people have shifted from traditional sports consumption to digitalization. With the advancement of AI, the audience has become the master, and they decide how they want to watch their favorite sport. AI makes them capable of focusing on any particular player, changing the camera angle or even interacting with the players of their choice sitting in the comfort of their homes.
Let’s discuss some of the magnificent revolutions changing the dimension of sports consumption.
The world now wants to experience everything digitally. And metaverse is one of the most advanced features that allow users to present virtually anywhere through their meta-avatars. The exciting feature is still in its initial phase, but absorbing the sports fraternity wouldn’t take long.
Disney Star, the official broadcaster of IPL 2023, has already launched the feature for the season. Sounds interesting right? The time is near when anybody can make use of advanced technology easily and explore themselves in the meta world.
Who among you could realize the hologram of Steve Smith present in the Star Sports Studio? Confused?
Well, AI made that possible. Steve Smith Commentate the IPL, 2023 opening was his 3D image. That came as a surprise when the veteran cricketer showed up on the expert panel. And many couldn’t even think of him being present digitally from far away in Australia.
The uses of AI-powered cameras have been modified. Smart cameras are now not only used for recording and broadcasting. In addition, the cameras placed at different angles can analyze players’ performance, movements, and gaming insights.
Such technology made sports easier for referees, viewers, and broadcasters through accurate data analysis.
Jio Cinema, the official broadcaster of IPL, set a landmark in this regard by providing viewers with authority to change through camera angles. Through the multi-camera setting, the viewers sitting at home can change the angle and focus on a particular object or place of their choice.
They provide an end-to-end tactical view and a 360-degree cable camera, which allows viewers to be present in every corner of the stadium with just a few clicks from their remote.
The invention of Virtual Reality (VR) undoubtedly fills the gap of enjoying a game from a stadium. The users can be virtually present in any sports event through the VR device and even interact with the virtual players. Additionally, Augmented Reality (AR) can quickly accumulate data and show it on the top of the screen. The real-time data and the graphical representation effortlessly enhance the game experience in no time.
The automated highlights generated through AI are also making a buzz. So even if you miss some significant moments, there is nothing to worry about anymore. AI will record that as a highlight; you can stream it at your convenience.
AI takes care of all your comfort watching any game. And making sure there is no miss out on engagement and interactivity.
The online quizzes, fan feeds, and interactions are all new AI editions taking the sports industry by storm. The barrier of language has been demolished. You can select the language of your choice. Be it commentary or the subtitle, every language is at your fingertip.
IPL has become the craziest sport ever by including languages like Tamil, Kannada, Bhojpuri, and whatnot. So, when Manoj Bajpayee takes the microphone and starts speaking in Bhojpuri, the charm spreads across the stadium. And that’s how AI revolutionized the sports Industry with its multi-dimensional innovations.
Gone are the days when advertisements used to be the same across the channels, irrelevant to the target audience. The powerful AI algorithms are mastered in analytics and display add to the viewing habits, preferences, and demographic information.
Today, consumers do not switch between channels during the consumption of sports. And that happens because of the strategic placement and ways of interaction through ads throughout the game. The relevant ad content hooked viewers to the end without them having to switch between channels.
This resulted in 100% engagement with the ads, whereas earlier in traditional broadcasting, six out of ten consumers used to switch between channels during the ads. Moreover, reports suggest it has been seen that 61% of millennials these days share data over coupons or gift cards. On the other hand, the rest of the consumers watch the ad of their interests.
This way, advertisers know the segment of their investment as generic ads have now taken a backseat. Through robust analysis, advertisers can also accumulate the viewership data of their ads through click-through rates, engagement, and interactivity.
It helps them to curate the ads specific to the target audience and their placement choice to attract more audiences.
Everything is personalized according to the target audience, from the onscreen advertisement to the ad video. As a result, the smooth transition between the games and ads is also highly advanced, where viewers no longer feel the gap because of the highly contextual ad curation.
AI has powered both advertisers and viewers with innovation and bought out a highly captivating dimension of enthusiasm to the world of sports.
We have discussed the uses of Artificial Intelligence in this blog, but the innovation has not stopped here. It is ever evolving, and new features are coming up every day while tiding a level up for the existing features.
The enhancement of the technological aspect leads to massive investment in the sports streaming industry. For instance, Jio Cinema brought the broadcasting rights of IPL (2023-2027) with a whopping amount of 2.7 billion. Likewise, Disney is to invest $44.9 billion in sports right through 2027. And they are continuously improving the broadcasting quality by implementing the latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies.
Multiple platforms are developing new technologies and ways to accelerate AI and ML enhancement in sports. Even streaming media like Jio Cinema, Disney Star, and others are tying-up with AI technology providers to produce better AI technologies that revolutionize the sports streaming landscape.
These collaborations aim to leverage the power of AI to deliver enhanced user experiences, seamless integration of personalized content recommendations, and real-time analysis of sports events.
If you are looking for a reliable partner to help you build an engaging OTT application that can help you manage retention, we encourage you to drop us an email at [email protected] and book a consultation call with us.
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