YouTube secures deal to live stream UEFA Champions League finals (FB, TWTR, GOOG, GOOGL)

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YouTube has secured a deal with British TV network BT Sport to live stream the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals, according to WIRED.

The deal should help BT Sport reach a younger generation of sports fans, specifically the growing number of cord-cutters who watch their sports online.

The network owns the rights to both European soccer tournaments, which it currently broadcasts for free on its Sport Showcase channel. But the viewership numbers for these broadcasts have been low so far this year, with an average peak audience of less than 200,000 for Champions League coverage. For context, ITV had an average peak of 4.4 million viewers last year.

This partnership is the latest in a trend of live streaming sports on digital video platforms, including YouTube itself, which recently expanded its coverage deal with the NFL and has been heavily featuring NBA content on its Google Preferred ad inventory.

Twitter secured a blockbuster deal with the NFL to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games in this upcoming season.

Snapchat signed a deal with NBC Universal to produce and broadcast exclusive Olympics coverage later this summer.

Facebook Live has already streamed National Women’s Soccer League games, and BT Sport competitor Sky announced in April that it would deliver behind-the-scenes content through the video streaming service.

And Yahoo has been extremely active with sports, as it has deals to live stream NHL and MLB games, as well as the PGA Tour.

Mobile will be a particularly robust platform here, as users can now stream live sporting events to their phones anywhere they have a data or Wi-Fi connection. And that’s just one reason mobile video is taking off in a major way.

Margaret Boland, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile video that takes a look at how short-form mobile video has exploded. The report examines how YouTube, the historically dominant force in short-form video, was slow to implement a mobile video strategy, opening the door for new players —namely Facebook and Snapchat — to emerge.

It also takes a look at how winners will begin to emerge in distinct video content categories. YouTube, for instance, will rely heavily on its homegrown YouTube stars to distinguish its video library and drive loyalty. Facebook will become the go-to place for brands and media companies to engage with the largest audience. And Snapchat will utilize its live-events coverage and exclusive content to promote video communication among younger mobile audiences.

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Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• The rise in mobile video viewing can be attributed to several factors: an increase in overall time spent on mobile, the convenience of on-demand viewing, a preference for digital video viewing, and the increased availability of mobile video content.
• As video becomes mobile-first, YouTube’s hold on the short-form video industry is waning. The number of videos that are uploaded to the platform per month has remained stagnant over the past year, according to Socialbakers data shared with BI Intelligence.
• Facebook is in the best position to upset YouTube as the go-to place for brand and media companies to upload videos and for users to watch these videos. Although Snapchat may not be competing with Facebook and YouTube on video volume, the app is changing how consumers, brands, and publishers are using mobile video for communication, news and entertainment, and live-event coverage.

In full, the report:

• Maps out the rise of mobile video viewing and lays out the main drivers of this trend.
• Examines why YouTube’s hold on the short-form video industry is waning as viewers migrate to mobile viewing.
• Illustrates the dramatic increase in the number of videos that brands and media companies are publishing to Facebook over the past year.
• Forecasts the number of videos that US brands and media companies will publish to both Facebook and YouTube in 2016.
• Explains how Snapchat is able to compete with larger video platforms and is changing how brands, media companies, and consumers are using mobile video.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the rapidly changing world of mobile video.