Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Britons who’ll watch the
Olympics on TV will use an internet-connected device at the same time –
according to research from marketing technology experts RadiumOne.
Among the 64% of second-screeners, online activity unrelated to the Olympics
will be the most popular activity (53% of second-screeners doing this),
followed by online chat/Instant Messaging about the event they’re watching
(31%), searching online for event-related information or chatting on the phone
about what’s on (both 30%).
Nearly all (97%) of Olympic TV
viewers will watch it at home, much higher than the Euro 2016 football
championships (58%). Only 20% plan to watch the Olympics at a pub, half that
for the Euros (39%). 
“The Olympics is much less of a social viewing experience than the Euros,
which is good news for advertisers as attention is much more likely to be on
the TV or a connected device than other people or surroundings,” says Craig
Tuck, RadiumOne’s UK managing director. “Further good news is the large
amount of second-screening enables sponsors and other advertisers looking to
get in on the act to target viewers with a similar profile to the TV audience
online during broadcasts, which they can’t do on TV as it’s on the BBC.”
“In addition to these “moments”, individual events are also a great opportunity to tie online ads to the athletes taking part,” he says. “For example, Santander and Vitality Insurance can coordinate online ads with broadcasts of Jessica Ennis-Hill’s heptathlon events, who they sponsor, as could Puma and Virgin Media during Usain Bolt’s events.”