As the world turns its attention to London for a few weeks later this month, the city and the event’s organizers are taking strides to make this Summer Games the most digitally-accessible sporting event of its kind in history.  According to Deloitte research quoted by eMarketer, 20% of Internet users in the United States intend to watch all or part of the Games online.  France leads the way with 26% of respondents indicating that they’ll watch all or part online, followed by Germany with 20% the United Kingdom with 15%.

While the data indicates that television is still the dominant medium, the rise of online video is clearly having an impact on the festivities.  As eMarketer reports, “Major content providers, such as the BBC in the UK and NBCUniversal in the US, have bought exclusive rights to broadcast Olympic coverage in their home territories. NBC alone paid an estimated $1.18 billion for its rights.”  The report continues, “Those distribution deals include digital media, and both broadcasters are investing enormous resources in providing online and mobile access to a huge range of high-quality material.”

@MatthewBick