世界盃屢破美國視頻播放紀錄
The World Cup has become the most streamed live sporting event the US has ever seen, as Americans tuned in to this year’s tournament on their smartphones, tablets and computers in record numbers.
今年通過智能手機、平板電腦和電腦觀看世界盃(World Cup)比賽的美國人數創下歷史紀錄，世界盃也成爲美國有史以來在流媒體上實時播放量最大的體育賽事。
A surge of US interest in football this year has also led to record television audiences for broadcasts on ESPN and Univision, the Spanish-language network. The US team’s loss on Tuesday to Belgium averaged a 9.6 overnight rating on ESPN, according to Nielsen, the highest for any World Cup match the network has broadcast.
今年美國人對足球興趣激增，還推動ESPN和西班牙語電視網Univision的收視率創下紀錄。尼爾森(Nielsen)的數據顯示，週二美國隊負於比利時隊的那場比賽，讓ESPN的晚間平均收視率達到9.6%，高於ESPN播放過的任何其他世界盃比賽。
But a 50 per cent surge in live streaming compared with the previous record, set during the 2012 London Olympics, shows that the sport’s appeal has grown particularly among younger, more digital, fans.
世界盃期間的流媒體實時播放時長較之前2012年倫敦奧運會(2012 London Olympics)期間創下的紀錄飆升了50%，尤其反映出足球運動對更習慣數字化生活的年輕球迷的吸引力正在快速增長。
US viewers have so far watched nearly 30m hours of streaming video on ESPN’s World Cup website and apps, the network said, beating the previous record of 20.4m viewing hours during NBC’s 2012 Olympics coverage. Univision has streamed 1.5m hours since the start of the tournament.
ESPN表示，世界盃開賽至今，美國觀衆已在ESPN世界盃網站和應用上觀看了近3000萬小時的流媒體視頻，這一數字打破了美國全國廣播公司(NBC)在2012年奧運會轉播期間創下的2040萬小時的觀看時長紀錄。自本屆世界盃開賽以來，美國觀衆在Univision電視網上觀看的流媒體視頻時長已達150萬小時。
Last week’s USA v Germany match drew a record 1.7m streaming viewers to ESPN at its peak, with streaming on Univision peaking at 747,000. Tuesday’s USA v Belgium match peaked at 1.5m streams on ESPN and 680,000 on Univision.
上週美國隊對德國隊的比賽，在高峯時段，有創紀錄的170萬觀衆觀看了ESPN的流媒體，有74.7萬觀衆觀看Univision的流媒體。週二美國隊對比利時隊的比賽，在高峯時段，則吸引了150萬觀衆觀看ESPN的流媒體，68萬觀衆觀看Univision的流媒體。
In comparison, live streaming of January’s Super Bowl peaked at 1.1m.
與之形成對照的是，1月份的超級碗(Super Bowl)實時流媒體觀衆在高峯時段爲110萬人。
While the elimination of the US team leaves a question mark over US fans’ interest in the rest of the tournament, Univision’s audience for non-US games has been robust.
儘管美國隊被淘汰後，美國球迷對本屆世界盃剩餘賽事的興趣到底如何還要打個問號，但Univision的觀衆對觀看沒有美國隊參加的比賽一直熱情很高。
Univision said its broadcast on Sunday of the Mexico v Netherlands match was the most-watched programme, of any kind, in US Spanish-language TV history, with an average 10.4m viewers. Its audiences have been largest in cities with large Spanish-speaking populations, such as Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and New York.
Univision表示，上週日其對墨西哥隊對荷蘭隊那場比賽的轉播，觀看人數平均爲1040萬人，是美國西班牙語電視史上播出過的所有類型的節目中觀看人數最多的。Univision的觀衆主要來自邁阿密、洛杉磯、休斯敦和紐約等擁有龐大西班牙語人羣的城市。
With most matches being shown during business hours, Americans are increasingly turning to their devices to keep up with the tournament. Fifa, football’s governing body, said US fans make up 20 per cent of its global digital audience and are spending more time on its website and apps than fans in Brazil, Germany, England and France combined.
由於本屆世界盃的比賽大多在美國人的上班時間進行，因此越來越多美國人用自己的手機、平板電腦和電腦跟蹤比賽情況。國際足聯(FIFA)表示，美國球迷佔其全球數字觀衆的20%，在其網站和應用上花的時間超過巴西、德國、英格蘭和法國球迷的總和。
The flood of demand caused some problems with ESPN’s feeds, leading frustrated viewers to take to Twitter to complain about the match cutting out. That had also happened during the USA v Germany game.
觀看需求的暴增給ESPN的流媒體視頻播放造成了一些問題，鬱悶的觀衆紛紛上Twitter抱怨比賽播放中斷。這種情況在美國隊對德國隊的比賽期間也發生過。
