Delighting sports fans with new technology
Audiences on bbc.co.uk rose from 12.9 million to 15.6 million regular monthly users in the last year and BBCi, our interactive 'red button' service for digital viewers, currently has an extraordinary annual growth rate of over 30%.
One of the most popular online and interactive areas is sport, and nowhere was this more evident than during the 2006 Ashes series. Test Match Special's (TMS) world-renowned commentators provided live commentary from Australia through the night online and on interactive TV, as well as on radio. At the close of play every morning, a TMS podcast was available to download and quickly became established in the overall top five chart on iTunes. Fans could also subscribe to the Ashes Alarm Clock – an SMS message that woke them with the latest scores. During the day ten-minute video highlights were streamed – offering non-Sky Sports subscribers the first chance to watch the action. The TMS blog gave cricket fans a platform to discuss the action – with 3.5 million page impressions in December.
