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Transfer deadline day scores digital record for BBC Sport

September 4, 2013

Gareth-BaleFans flocking to BBC Sport’s digital coverage of the football transfer deadline day (September 2nd) have driven record digital traffic for BBC Sport.

As audiences followed the latest rumours and signings throughout the day across four screens – PCs, tablets, mobiles and connected TVs – BBC Sport online saw the highest number of global daily unique browsers ever, outside of the London 2012 Olympic Games, setting a record for 2013:

– 9.39 million (global) and 6.45 million (UK) browsers accessed BBC Sport online – highest ever global reach outside of the Olympics

– Sets a global record for 2013 – topping Ferguson’s shock retirement (8.5 million) and Murray’s Wimbledon win (8.4 million)

– Mobile and tablet access was strong in the UK, with combined handheld requests accounting for 51 per cent of the day’s total UK traffic

BBC Sport’s ‘Transfer Deadline Day Live’ was the most accessed page of the day online (over 2 million browsers), as audiences followed all the latest news and gossip as it broke, while the top five deadline day player stories were:

– ‘Arsenal complete £42.4million Ozil signing’ – 1.7million browsers
– ‘Gareth Bale: Real Madrid present record signing to fans’ – 979k browsers
– ‘Mamadou Sakho & Tiago Ilori join Liverpool’ – 751k browsers
– ‘Real sign Bale for world record £85 million’ – 640k browsers
– ‘Kaka wants to leave Real Madrid’ – 365k browsers

The majority of users accessed the BBC Sport site via PCs (47 per cent of total daily UK requests) closely followed by mobiles (38.5 per cent). Overall traffic peaked between 10pm and 11pm as the window closed, which was also the peak time for mobile, tablet and connected TV access, but PC access peaked between 1pm and 2pm as people checked in during their lunch breaks.

BBC Sport also provided a comprehensive service for its audiences on social media through its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages. The BBC Sport website also curated the very best social media content for use across its multiplatform output, including a comprehensive mix of fan opinions as well as breaking news from leading clubs and players. BBC Sport’s most popular tweet of the day, ‘Arsenal agree a 50m euros (£42.4 million) fee with Real Madrid to sign Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil’, was retweeted over 6,000 times.

Earlier in the transfer window, BBC Sport introduced the ability to add football teams to the customisable Quick Links menu on the BBC Sport mobile app, available on Android, iOS and Kindle Fire devices. This feature has been used over 70,000 times, giving fans even quicker access to breaking news, gossip and other content from their favourite clubs. The top five teams added to users’ Quick Links are:

– Liverpool
– Manchester United
– Arsenal
– Manchester City
– Tottenham Hotspur

Chris Condron, Head of Sport Product for BBC Future Media, says: “We know that our audiences want to follow the latest transfer news and gossip on a range of devices, and have been building a service that allows them to do this across fours screens – PCs, mobiles, tablets and connected TVs. To set a new non-Olympic digital record for BBC Sport on transfer deadline day is a fantastic achievement and we’ll continue to ensure that people can access BBC Sport wherever and whenever they want to.”

Richard Burgess, Head of Sports News and Radio Sport, says: “Transfer deadline day is always a massive day for BBC Sport and it really demonstrates the unique multiplatform broadcast offering which audiences get from us. From the record usage of the BBC Sport website and mobile, simulcast red button and online programming throughout the day, BBC Radio 5 live’s top pundit line-up being there every step of the way and a Deadline Day Special on BBC One which drew a peak audience of 1.8 million, it’s a real team effort that pays dividend in delivering the very best in football journalism to our audiences, wherever they are, both domestically and globally.

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