As this year’s World Cup winds down with today’s semi-final game between Germany and Spain and this upcoming weekend’s final match, let’s replay how one of the most promising mobile events of the year so far did — and did not — deliver.
While it’s difficult to glean too much information about what’s happening on the ground in South Africa (and no one was willing to foot my expenses to check it out first-hand), the digital divide appears to be a strong factor. For instance, based on early results, efforts to generate on-the-ground check-ins by Foursquare and local mobile TV efforts fell short, while more sophisticated subscribers in the U.S. were quick to devour content from such services as MobiTV and ESPN.
–Mobile TV in South Africa: This has got to be one of the biggest letdowns of the games. In advance, multiple broadcast providers were expected to launch over-the-air mobile TV stations. The local licensing body planned to issue rights, however, only one provider submitted paperwork in time for the May 7 deadline. It’s unclear whether a service was ever launched, but the likelihood of many people owning compatible handsets, is small. According to a study, the number of people accessing the Web on mobile phones in South Africa is currently under four million, and only 1 percent had previously accessed mobile TV with only 1 percent intending on trying it.
— The Puma Phone: No big score on this front either. In February, Sagem and Puma announced it was creating the “Puma Phone” for the World Cup. With the games nearly coming to a close, the phone launched as recently as Monday in 19 European countries, including Germany, UK, Italy, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Romania, and Slovenia. It also was launched in eight African countries (but not South Africa). The phone costs around $500 (Euro 399) without a contract.
— Foursquare: The location-based check-in game had high hopes for the games. It partnered with CNN to encourage fans to win special badges, such as the “South Africa Explorer” for people traveling to the World Cup and the “Super Fan” for those attending games. Based on check-ins registered on Foursquare.com, the turn-out was not even close to the tens of thousands of fans in attendance. For instance, at the Elkah Stadium in Johannesburg, there were 241 check-ins by 168 visitors. The Cape Town stadium has registered 1,247 check-ins by about half as many uniques. Another Johannesburg stadium received nearly 2,000 check-ins.
–MobiTV: Results seemed to be a bit stronger on the home front when it came to consuming video on the go. The streaming video service said the World Cup, airing on its ESPN (NYSE: DIS) Mobile TV channel, is its highest performing live event to date. As of Friday, its 10 million-plus subscribers had viewed 88 million minutes of live World Cup action, which, as it points out is the equivalent of one viewer spending 61,111 consecutive days in front of the TV. While the tiny white soccer ball viewed on a small screen was listed as a limitation to getting mobile viewers in South Africa, that apparently didn’t seem to be as big of a problem here. It probably helped that the games were played in the early mornings in the U.S. when people were at work or potentially not in front of a TV or computer.
–More information coming: More results will come out, measuring the digital success of the games. Look for Nielsen to publish results based on a three-screen project that’s being conducted during the games in South Africa. Nielsen said it is tracking the behavior of 420 residents in four South African cities to keep track of each soccer match watched and on which medium — TV, phone or computer.
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