Consumers are increasingly taking in digital information and entertainment across a variety of platforms according to their own specific requirements, an industry expert has said.
Ben Gallop, head of interactive at BBC Sport, said that we are moving very swiftly towards a mixed economy where people consume “different bits of content” depending on their particular needs at any given time.
Speaking at the Westminster eForum Keynote Seminar: Beyond Beijing, Mr Gallop pointed to the significant increase in the amount of people who watched the Beijing Olympics via online video in 2008 compared to the number who watched the Athens Games in 2004 as proof of the growing demand for online media.
“[Online video is] clearly nowhere near mainstream yet, but in terms of where we were four years ago, you can see how much it has changed and is going to keep changing”, he said.
According to statistics from global information and media firm The Nielsen Company, the Beijing Olympic Games attracted 4.7 billion viewers over its 17-day run - a 21 per cent rise on the 3.9 billion who watched the Athens 2004 Games.