A study by leading consumer insights provider Toluna about the 2022 Winter Olympics and media choices has revealed that Aussies are excited about the Beijing Winter Olympics starting on Friday and most plan to watch the events live on linear TV. The survey questioned 1085 Australian respondents.
KEY FINDINGS
Nothing beats traditional television
- With the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics around the corner, Toluna asked Australians how they were planning to watch the games this year
- Live TV took out gold, with 74 per cent of Australians planning to watch the games on live on TV this year
- 12 per cent said they’d watch the games via catch up TV, eight per cent via live streaming, and six per cent via catch up streaming services
- Across the board, 82 per cent of respondents said live television is their preferred way of watching major sporting events like the Olympics
- Respondents prefer live TV for sport because it offers better camera angles (31 per cent) and better commentary (26 per cent) than streaming alternatives
- 30 per cent of respondents choose to watch events like the Olympics on TV because they don’t have access to live streaming options, and 12 per cent simply don’t like streaming services
- Unsurprisingly, older generations were more likely to watch the Olympics on live TV, with 84 per cent of over 55s choosing traditional viewing options versus only 62 per cent of 18-34 year-olds
Sports on-the-go
- Amongst the 18 per cent of respondents who prefer to watch sports via streaming services, for two thirds of these (66 per cent) it’s thanks to the flexibility of being able to watch the games anywhere, across any device
- Six per cent of respondents who prefer to watch sports via live stream, said it’s because they don’t own, or have access to, a traditional TV
- Younger generations are more likely to live stream the games. Only three per cent of over 55s will watch the Olympics via live streaming versus 14 per cent of 18-34 year-olds and nine per cent of 35-54 year-olds who will choose to watch the games via live stream
Most anticipated events
- Ski jumping is the most anticipated event at this year’s winter Olympics amongst Australians, with 48 per cent of respondents looking forward to watching this event
- This is closely followed by figure skating, with 44 per cent of respondents looking forward to watching the figure skating this year
- 39 per cent of Australians are looking forward to watching snowboarding and bobsled, closely followed by speed skating (37 per cent), ice dancing (34 per cent), alpine skiing (34 per cent), ice hockey (33 per cent), and luge (31 per cent)
- The least popular events this year are biathlon and Nordic combined, with only nine per cent and eight per cent of Australian viewers, respectively, looking forward to watching these events
