Record-Breaking Online Viewership Places MLG Pro Circuit Viewing Ahead of Traditional Cable Networks Like Comedy Central, MTV, TBS, FX and More Among Males 18-24
Major League Gaming (MLG), the world's largest competitive video game league, today announced that the 2011 Pro Circuit season was the largest season in eSports history, reaching more than 3.5 million unique stream viewers during combined Pro Circuit weekends. The recent 2011 Pro Circuit National Championships held in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 18-20, drew an all-time high of 241,000 peak concurrent online viewers and more than 3.6 million hours of video were consumed over the weekend. Viewers from 175 countries tuned in to the final tournament, the highest number of countries to date. The top five countries watching included the USA, Germany, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Over the 2011 Season, more than 15 million hours of video were consumed during Pro Circuit weekends.
Pulling data from Nielsen’s rating system based on a networks’ season-to-date average quarter hour, MLG Pro Circuit viewing in the 18-24 male demographic ranked ahead of top cable networks.
“Our viewership numbers this year have been staggering, and MLG now pulls in larger audiences than several traditional television cable networks,” said Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO, Major League Gaming. “Our live streams of the Pro Circuit National Championships garnered more 18-24 male viewers than Comedy Central, MTV, TBS, and FX draw in an average quarter hour and nearly as many as Adult Swim.”
The National Championships delivered the fifth consecutive record-breaking online broadcast of the season. More than 16,000 spectators attended the final tournament in person and 97,000 people attended Pro Circuit competitions in 2011. Traffic to www.majorleaguegaming.com for 2011 Pro Circuit weekends was also up 225% from 2010, with an average of 641,000 unique visitors to the site each weekend.
The following infographic further illustrates the growth of MLG in 2011:
About Major League Gaming:
Founded in 2002, Major League Gaming (MLG) (www.majorleaguegaming.com) is the dominant media property exclusively targeting tens of millions of consumers worldwide who have a passion for playing video games as a competitive social activity. The company gives aspiring gamers around the world an opportunity to compete, improve their skills, and socialize through a thriving competitive community with more than 750,000 matches each month online and LIVE in-person Pro Circuit tournaments in cities nationwide. MLG broadcasts all Pro Circuit play via LIVE streaming online to hundreds of thousands of fans in more than 170 countries. MLG also provides extensive online editorial and video content to more than 8 million unique fans each month including LIVE and on-demand original programming related to games, technology and more at MLG.tv and MLG Live.
Wow!!!! Take a bow MLG!! That is insane, the one i really this is crazy (Even though they doctored the graph) is the beating the Viewings on cable tv channels!! Thats awesome!
Can't wait until next year, these figures and results will just bait in more and more sponserships and even surely TV producers will be taking note if ever they see these figures.
MLG 2012 cant wait!
EDIT: Oh wow England Top 5 on the viewer list, ENGLAND FIGHTING <3 (I know it says UK but meh xD)
On December 06 2011 23:52 Manslayer wrote: sup Dreamhack?
Haha
They're both doing very well
I assume the viewership for MLG was so much higher because of the times they were each streamed, and I guess more Americans wanted to watch than Europeans?
On December 06 2011 23:52 Manslayer wrote: sup Dreamhack?
cant compete with americans in records
they find a record everywhere. like every NFL game 304732947932649362 records are set.
dont read too much into american statistics about american events and how much they hype the statistics
Ummm... Dreamhack already has those identical statistic topics in the analogous thread. MLG blew Dreamhack out of the water, in terms of numbers, for what it's worth >.>
Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
MLG did an awesome job at promoting themselves and with that baller line-up it doesn't surprise me they got these kind of numbers. Outside of the gomtv MLG seems like the most ambitious ESPORTS organization out there.
On December 07 2011 00:04 Spaceneil8 wrote: Sick numbers, but what I'm surprised about is that the UK is in the top 5 countries. I didn't think they were into SC2 that much.
I really want to see stat break downs by game though.
I think I've seen the Uk at the top in other tournament stats as well. It's a bit weird considering how few esports events we see out of there atm.
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
Yea MTV don't have great numbers in that agespan, But I imagine that Comedy Centrals has males between 18-24 as one of their prime audiences. And males between 18-24 is the audience that MLG can sell stuff to. Not a large part of their audience is much older, and below don't really have much money to use, or for their potential sponsor/advertisers to sell stuff to. So in that way that graph makes perfect sense.
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
It's not silly. The male 18-24 demographic is one of the most prized to advertisers.
Impressive numbers, that should definitely bring in new sponsors. Of course the statistic about the comparison to the TV channels is heavily skewed, but its still a sign of potential and the size of the market.
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
Yea MTV don't have great numbers in that agespan, But I imagine that Comedy Centrals has males between 18-24 as one of their prime audiences. And males between 18-24 is the audience that MLG can sell stuff to. Not a large part of their audience is much older, and below don't really have much money to use, or for their potential sponsor/advertisers to sell stuff to. So in that way that graph makes perfect sense.
no mtv if anything has there largest audience between 18-24.. I watch alot of the reality shows.
Who you think watches 16 and pregnant, jersey shore, real world challenges , 40 year olds?
mtv is for younge people around the ages quoted here, That statisic is very impressive, however im curious how they actually know what age are the viewers ( this goes out to both mtv and mlg, unless a survey is done its just guess work)
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
Yea MTV don't have great numbers in that agespan, But I imagine that Comedy Centrals has males between 18-24 as one of their prime audiences. And males between 18-24 is the audience that MLG can sell stuff to. Not a large part of their audience is much older, and below don't really have much money to use, or for their potential sponsor/advertisers to sell stuff to. So in that way that graph makes perfect sense.
no mtv if anything has there largest audience between 18-24.. I watch alot of the reality shows.
Who you think watches 16 and pregnant, jersey shore, real world challenges , 40 year olds?
mtv is for younge people around the ages quoted here, That statisic is very impressive, however im curious how they actually know what age are the viewers ( this goes out to both mtv and mlg, unless a survey is done its just guess work)
Okay should say age and sexspan. Male between 18 and 24 watching 16 and pregnant i would call men that programs agespan I would say i 20-30 age women.
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
The graph might seem pointless to you, but it probably resonates with sponsors quite a bit, especially since it's focusing on the 18-24 male demographic, one of the most sought after demos AFAIK. And MLG does amazing in that regard. As for MTV achieving higher peak viewership because of VMA's/Bieber/etc, that's likely true, but that's also probably part of why MLG went with average quarter hour (I would assume over the duration of the tournament) vs. MTV's Nielson ratings for the same metric. After all, how often does MTV have VMA's? And how long are they? MTV may have higher peaks for brief periods, but what that graph is saying is that MLG has a much higher average viewership when it's "airing", so to speak. For sponsors, that's incredibly useful information - they can invest in MLG and reap a higher average viewership relative to MTV's standard programming for the same demographic. Might even be cheaper/more profitable than paying a crapload for a small ad to air during the VMA's or whatever. Anywho, my 2 cents.
I don't understand people saying "oh suck it DH" or any similar thing. I don't think it's a competition of who will get the most viewers. We should all be happy that the numbers are high and that's about it.
On December 06 2011 23:52 Manslayer wrote: sup Dreamhack?
cant compete with americans in records
they find a record everywhere. like every NFL game 304732947932649362 records are set.
dont read too much into american statistics about american events and how much they hype the statistics
LOL. Actually you're kinda right about NFL games.... Hahahaa it really does seem like you see some record being broken in every NFL game, including the most obscure categories of records like "most pass yards after a third quarter deficit" and so on.
That said, your jab/generalization concerning "American statistics, events, hype, ... so on and so forth" is uncalled for/stupid, just like the "sup Dreamhack" comment
It is hard to compare to TV though, because TV station are limited to 1 country mostly, unless you have a satellite but (in Belgium) almost nobody has that.
I dont get that much rivalry between dreamhack and mlg, they both are different kind of events, where dreamhack is a lan byoc where they invite players to play an invitational, and mlg is a pro circuit during the whole year.
It is hard to compare to TV though, because TV station are limited to 1 country mostly, unless you have a satellite but (in Belgium) almost nobody has that.
I think the main reason MLG is so hyped is how its always 1-2 months till the next stop and ppl are more excited how their favorite player will move up on the MLG rankings and the addition of the GSL partnership.
On December 07 2011 00:44 DreamOen wrote: I dont get that much rivalry between dreamhack and mlg, they both are different kind of events, where dreamhack is a lan byoc where they invite players to play an invitational, and mlg is a pro circuit during the whole year.
it's so hard for ppl to just be happy for both events, and for the growth of eSports.
What is wrong with people? So much need to compare everything negatively, in every thread, be it number of stream viewers, players, games (BW vs SC2), artists (yeah, even comparing looks within groups).
If you win, praise your opponents. If you lose, congratulate the winner.
That is the only way a victory gains meaning, if you lose to someone who sucks: what does that make you?
We should be glad that MLG and DH is showing great form, despite a long, arduous season this autumn.
That DH would get less viewers than MLG Providence isn't surprising for two reasons.
1. Providence was the weekend before DH and MLG was extremely tiring (not complaining) 2. DH had two weekdays instead of one and fewer koreans (a lot which sadly declined in the last minute)
On December 07 2011 00:44 DreamOen wrote: I dont get that much rivalry between dreamhack and mlg, they both are different kind of events, where dreamhack is a lan byoc where they invite players to play an invitational, and mlg is a pro circuit during the whole year.
Neither company sees it as a rivalry, we're just constantly bombarded with questions/comments that attempt to create one.
Esports events failing is bad for everyone, so we're happy for their success!
On December 07 2011 00:27 sabas123 wrote: bigger than comedy central0_o why dont they go on real tv?
It's a flawed comparison as MLG's streams are readily available and easily accessible (for free) to people all around the world, while US cable channels obviously aren't. To make it worse I guess for this comparison they only used the US viewer numbers for the cable channels, whilst using the entire viewership for their own streams?
Also, how do they know the ages of people watching their streams?
I like this infographic except for the cable TV comparison. That is really unfair and just hype comparing average viewers of a 24/7 station to something that specific fans tune in to for a weekend. (I'm assuming it means average # of viewers over any given 15 minute period, which would include times like 4am when almost no one would be watching)
On December 07 2011 00:44 DreamOen wrote: I dont get that much rivalry between dreamhack and mlg, they both are different kind of events, where dreamhack is a lan byoc where they invite players to play an invitational, and mlg is a pro circuit during the whole year.
To compare DH and MLG is, as you say, not really correct.
DH is a made into a culture event in sweden, they don't work with a 100+ staff to market, sell, produce and create content for them. They create a lan where people can create stuff, play and watch games being played. They have also got 2-3 guys working with esports, making it a new part of Dreamhack.
I would love for Dreamhack to go all in with esports, but that is not what the Dreamhack brand stands for to 22 000 people visiting every Dreamhack.
MLG does what it is supposed to do, and have done great 2011. I hope they finally have found a business model that can support them for many years to come.
In a perfect world MLg and Dreamhack could do esports wonders togheter, MLG doing the esport content at Dreamhacks. As Dreamhacks CEO said on Lo3, everyone is welcome to make stuff happen at Dreamhack. Perhaps that might even be true for MLG.
On December 07 2011 00:44 DreamOen wrote: I dont get that much rivalry between dreamhack and mlg, they both are different kind of events, where dreamhack is a lan byoc where they invite players to play an invitational, and mlg is a pro circuit during the whole year.
To compare DH and MLG is, as you say, not really correct.
DH is a made into a culture event in sweden, they don't work with a 100+ staff to market, sell, produce and create content for them. They create a lan where people can create stuff, play and watch games being played. They have also got 2-3 guys working with esports, making it a new part of Dreamhack.
I would love for Dreamhack to go all in with esports, but that is not what the Dreamhack brand stands for to 22 000 people visiting every Dreamhack.
MLG does what it is supposed to do, and have done great 2011. I hope they finally have found a business model that can support them for many years to come.
In a perfect world MLg and Dreamhack could do esports wonders togheter, MLG doing the esport content at Dreamhacks. As Dreamhacks CEO said on Lo3, everyone is welcome to make stuff happen at Dreamhack. Perhaps that might even be true for MLG.
This. Dreamhack is not an Esports event. It's a cultural event that supports the general concept of a "Computer Festival" So dreamhack aren't actualy spending all their resources on promoting Esports, to compare MLG with Dreamhack is like comparing oranges with apples.
I can't believe every would-be feel-good thread ends up so littered with arguments and complaints and all kinds of other nonsense.
MLG and Dreamhack (and others like IPL) have had great years, why do you have to bicker about it? American businesses like to manipulate statisitics? Businesses EVERYWHERE have and will continue to do as such, if it helps them make money. One of the core ideas that defines a business is that it should exist to make money. For every 1 nerd bickering about meaningless statistics there are 10 or more people actually impressed/influenced by said statistics.
With that said, I'm happy that SC2 is growing and MLG and DH are two of the major platforms that will help it do so.
On December 07 2011 00:44 DreamOen wrote: I dont get that much rivalry between dreamhack and mlg, they both are different kind of events, where dreamhack is a lan byoc where they invite players to play an invitational, and mlg is a pro circuit during the whole year.
Neither company sees it as a rivalry, we're just constantly bombarded with questions/comments that attempt to create one.
Esports events failing is bad for everyone, so we're happy for their success!
Is it possible to provide numbers per game please?, I would like to know how Lol and Halo did in comparision to SC. =)
Regarding the whole DH vs MLG debate that people talk about in this thread there there are not so many stats that you can compare.
DreamHack Winter presented their stats earlier today with 1.7M Unique Viewers on one single event while MLG have not released unique viewers for MLG Providence - only hours and peak concurrent viewers.
So if you want to compare DH and MLG regarding "How many people watched the event" you simply cannot do it.
+If you want to get it even more complicated DH Summer also had the LoL tournament with about 200k concurrent viewers. Add the other DH Summer games and you have a gigantic concurrent peak number. But this was not released together with the official TwitchTV stats so it's very hard to compare this with MLG concurrent viewers number.
You can debate this forever but that's how it is.
Why not just be happy that we have two tournaments with amazing stats that are growing like crazy?
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
Pretty sure that is one of the most desirable demographics for marketing
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
Pretty sure that is one of the most desirable demographics for marketing
Its not, most networks use 18-49 as the main demo.
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
Pretty sure that is one of the most desirable demographics for marketing
Its not, most networks use 18-49 as the main demo.
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
Pretty sure that is one of the most desirable demographics for marketing
Its not, most networks use 18-49 as the main demo.
This in no way contradicts what feanor1 said...
And to try to get the 30+ demo happy is just not MLGs thing, they shouldn't even try. They are doing the right thing, comparing within the demo they want to compete, nothing strange about it.
This really is pretty amazing. I'd like it if someone could put the statement about beating out traditional cable television stations and having higher viewership that those stations did in a quarter hour into some context. Why a quarter hour? Are we comparing MLG peak concurrent to the average 15 minutes of these stations? Still, blows my mind that we are even able to compare to cable television and not just fringe channels on the extended packages but FX, Comedy Central, and TBS.
We could kid ourselves and pretend that MLG 2011 wasn't bigger than MLG 2010 because of Starcraft 2. But thats like saying that chocolate is just as nice without sugar.
If OP had left the Dreamhack pic out of the thread there would never be this DH vs MLG nonsense. I personally say you remove it and let us just be happy with those outstanding MLG statistics.
Now the question is, Will it keep growing and rival brood war OSL/MSL Glory years numbers? Or will it turn out to be a dud. In my opinion, the game really is good right now, but HoTS Is just going to ruin the progress it has made. All the units they are putting in are just shit, the games all about just big fights when it shouldn't be. For the fanbase to keep growing, the game needs to be made more exciting. Just my 2 cents~
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
Pretty sure that is one of the most desirable demographics for marketing
Keep in mind that MTV is on every day, while MLG is only every couple months. This means that fans are more likely to watch the MLG events cause they know it's rare, whereas MTV is always on so you watch it whenever you have time. If mlg was on every day like MTV they'd probably be nowhere close to their numbers.
i would be a real fan of mlg if their format wouldnt be the worst out of any big tournament out there
hope they will give European (or maybe even SEA) players to come over and have a realistic chance to stay in the top 16 without having to win like 20 series in a row while seeded players can just lose every single game and still come in ahead of a guy that won 12 or something bo 3s in a row
Do we know whether the peak concurrent figure represents unique viewers? Or were the people running 4 streams at once counted as four? If the latter, the number becomes much less impressive, and actually lower than even MLG was hoping for.
I don't get this, the LoL stream this summer had 200k alone...and still MLG beat DH by 100k. What am I missing? Seems to me like someone is using statistics very selectively.
I think it's sort of ridiculous someone bothered tweeting sundance about dreamhack just to basically be a prick. I don't think they're in direct competition - these numbers are good for everyone.
On December 07 2011 04:21 Longshank wrote: I don't get this, the LoL stream this summer had 200k alone...and still MLG beat DH by 100k. What am I missing? Seems to me like someone is using statistics very selectively.
Nice to see them doing well however. Keep it up!
The LoL stream was independent from the DreamHack streams and the event itself, and was completely run by Riot Games. It was also done on own3d.tv which is not a partner of DH (twitch.tv)
On December 07 2011 04:20 Westy wrote: It always amazes me to see UK in the top countries in regards to SC2. yet we can only get 40/50 people in the UK sc2 channel.
Remember its for Halo as well, which is pretty big in the UK. And UK sc2 channel is baller son.
Great numbers! MLG is really good at what they do, always an enjoyable event.
Damn MLG is so exciting! I can reasonably expect that every event will be seriously better than the previous event, something i can't say for GSL (although GSL production is really good and consistency isn't a bad thing). I've been a huge MLG fan since Halo2, and I feel like i might be one of the first generations to literally grow up with it... now it's getting really big! Feels great!
Congrats to MLG for delivering an awesome year of content. Looking forward to 2012! Outside of GSL, for me MLG has most definitely been the best SC2 content out there!
I wonder what kind of impact the huge surge of barcraft and barcraft attendees from the last MLG to Providence had. At least a few thousand people that would have otherwise been watching at home and adding to the stream numbers I would guess.
On December 07 2011 03:25 Doodsmack wrote: Do we know whether the peak concurrent figure represents unique viewers? Or were the people running 4 streams at once counted as four? If the latter, the number becomes much less impressive, and actually lower than even MLG was hoping for.
Gosugamers is reporting that MLG providence had 3.5 million unique viewers
On December 07 2011 04:21 Longshank wrote: I don't get this, the LoL stream this summer had 200k alone...and still MLG beat DH by 100k. What am I missing? Seems to me like someone is using statistics very selectively.
Nice to see them doing well however. Keep it up!
The LoL stream was independent from the DreamHack streams and the event itself, and was completely run by Riot Games. It was also done on own3d.tv which is not a partner of DH (twitch.tv)
The Dreamhack Summer LoL Stream was put on by riot but was streamed through Dreamhack's own3d.tv channel.
He's put in a lot of effort and it's great to see it rewarding him that way. It's well deserved IMHO. I hope next year goes even more successful for MLG and eSports in general.
On December 07 2011 00:49 GrungyMunchy wrote: I really would love something like this but for Starcraft streams only. How much of a percentage do you guys think SC2 occupies in those statistics?
On December 07 2011 03:25 Doodsmack wrote: Do we know whether the peak concurrent figure represents unique viewers? Or were the people running 4 streams at once counted as four? If the latter, the number becomes much less impressive, and actually lower than even MLG was hoping for.
Gosugamers is reporting that MLG providence had 3.5 million unique viewers
MLG has a strong showing, Dreamhack has a strong showing. EVERYBODY WINS!! It's great to see the SC2 community embrace it worldwide (still waiting on Korea to catch up, even). This train has momentum, and hopefully 2012 sees the same growth rate.
On December 07 2011 04:21 Longshank wrote: I don't get this, the LoL stream this summer had 200k alone...and still MLG beat DH by 100k. What am I missing? Seems to me like someone is using statistics very selectively.
Nice to see them doing well however. Keep it up!
The LoL stream was independent from the DreamHack streams and the event itself, and was completely run by Riot Games. It was also done on own3d.tv which is not a partner of DH (twitch.tv)
The Dreamhack Summer LoL Stream was put on by riot but was streamed through Dreamhack's own3d.tv channel.
Not really hypocritical, he presented a fact with no opinion of his own. I don't see why this animosity arises, should be happy about the success about both tournaments. The numbers are spectacular.
Are the numbers posted by MLG only in the US or across the world? If it is worldwide, its an apples to oranges comparison with MTV, Comedy Central, etc. since Nielsen numbers are for US only viewers.
In any case, those are good numbers, glad to see eSports surging.
Absolutely amazing numbers. And very well deserved numbers. Good work MLG. I know you wanted 300k concurrent Sundance, but these are still great. Keep up the good work.
On December 07 2011 00:27 sabas123 wrote: bigger than comedy central0_o why dont they go on real tv?
That graph compares peak viewers to average viewers. Average viewers on a 24/7 broadcasting network. If MLG broadcasted 24 hours a day, believe me, they wouldn't be hitting anywhere close to those numbers.
On December 07 2011 00:00 windzor wrote: Just a question for some of the numbers if any of the MLG guys want/can answer them.
You say that the "MLG Network" has greater number than MTV/CC/others. Are the MLG numbers/others numbers only for viewers of USA/NA or is it global numbers? The thing i'm wondering is, MLG is truly global. Every contry can tune in if you have the internet, but it's not possible to get like Comedy Central in, atleast some if not all of, europe. So the numbers is "skewed" because afaik Nielsen ratings is only US ratings?
Not that it really matters, but would be interesting if MLG actually beated CC in US or if you took global numbers vs Us numbers...
That bit doesn't really matter about the MLG network having greater numbers than MTV/CC because they used "males between 18-24" as the study lol which i think is a bit silly thus throwing that graph to a pointless statistic.
Pretty sure if something about Bieber was on, under 18 girls would of flocked to watch it on MTV or some shit. Wasnt VMAs on 1 of the weekends of MLG aswell? Surely that would of out rated MLG
Pretty sure that is one of the most desirable demographics for marketing
Its not, most networks use 18-49 as the main demo.
This in no way contradicts what feanor1 said...
The earlier cut off connotes that their viewership past 24 years old is practically nonexistent. A huge part of the success of BW in Korea was its crossover appeal outside of the 18-24 male crowd. The refusal of the hardcore gaming community and e-sports scene in the west to grow-up is preventing it from truly hitting mainstream. It's just not connecting anymore to many gamers who grew up in the 80s and 90s.
On December 07 2011 07:26 Zyrre wrote: Wow, Sweden in top 5 countries with 9.5 million inhabitants. Second smallest in top 5 is Canada with ~35 million.
On December 07 2011 06:06 Ruccola wrote: How on earth does MLG know the age of people streaming an MLG?
Depending on the information given to them on their site, the people who have MLG subscriptions or accounts I think have a listed age when signing up. Also, you need to be at least 18 to own a credit card, and they may just be basing it off their subscribers.
i cant belieive how bad Uk players are even for uk channel yet we watch it so much both MLG and GSL lol, and well we have abrcrafts too... lol So how many of them would be at home watching games. Yeh i know thats same for everyone but the land mass of the uk and how much gaming is still socially unaccepted makes me wonder why all these guys watching are not playing :D
As one of the thousands viewers, I'd like to thank MLG, and also confirm that all the ads they were running really got to me. So, sponsors out there, this thing is huge and it really works to reach your customers. Invest in MLG!
Funny how people are so impressed with the concurrent viewers number when MLG is likely counting people using the quad stream as 4 concurrent viewers. The number is less than MLG hoped for.
On December 08 2011 00:02 Thesidu wrote: Im having a real hard time trusting any organisations viewers numbers , they are all calculating diffrently which makes it impossible to compare them.
MLG is the most trust worthy as they always tell you how they go them. MLG's are always unique visitors
On December 08 2011 00:04 Doodsmack wrote: Funny how people are so impressed with the concurrent viewers number when MLG is likely counting people using the quad stream as 4 concurrent viewers. The number is less than MLG hoped for.
Actually it is done by IP. That means that even if you had 1000 streams open, it would only count once.
On December 08 2011 00:05 MisterTea wrote: AMAZING
I agree with you, but not with your posting. CAPS and 1 word = SPAM!!!
I don't get it. They compared their peak concurrent viewers to the viewers of US-only Nielsen ratings for what times? If they compared peak Comedy Central viewers to peak MLG there would be no comparison, but if they compared 18-24 male viewers at noon in the US to their peak there would obviously be a difference.
It looks like they said average quarter hour peak viewers for the cable networks, but that means they counted silly times where no one watches TV and times in the mid-day when no 18-24 y/os watch TV.
On December 08 2011 00:56 hmunkey wrote: I don't get it. They compared their peak concurrent viewers to the viewers of US-only Nielsen ratings for what times? If they compared peak Comedy Central viewers to peak MLG there would be no comparison, but if they compared 18-24 male viewers at noon in the US to their peak there would obviously be a difference.
It looks like they said average quarter hour peak viewers for the cable networks, but that means they counted silly times where no one watches TV and times in the mid-day when no 18-24 y/os watch TV.
Where are you seeing MLG say they "compared their peak concurrent viewers to the viewers of US-only Nielsen ratings"? You'll note the AQH numbers for MLG are roughly half their reported peak, so...? It looks like MLG just computed their AQH from their stream numbers over the duration of the weekend, which would explain the difference.
As for the fairness of the comparison, yes it's not apples to apples. If I'm a potential sponsor, though, aren't I more concerned about reach for a particular demographic, and the cost associated with it? Suppose MTV has a one hour show that has 1,000,000 AQH for 18-24 year old males, but it only happens a few times a week, and otherwise their programming has less than spectacular viewership (accounting for the lower overall AQH per the graph). If I want to buy ads during that programming, I'm likely to have a lot of competition from other companies interested in the same demographic (driving up costs) and because the show (or shows) only represent a small fraction of the number of programmable hours during a given week, I'm hoping that the large viewership will offset the fact that my ad spots may only show up a handful of times during their broadcasts. Otherwise I'm looking at buying ad space for MTV's "down" periods, i.e., mid-day when "no 18-24 y/os watch TV", as you said.
What MLG appears to be saying is that they should be considered a value option for potential sponsors /because/ their AQH is really high relative to cable's average viewership, not that they peak higher (which they almost certainly don't). That is, sponsors investing in MLG can count on higher average viewership during Pro Circuit events and, because the average MLG viewer is watching 3+ hours of content, sponsorship ROI could potentially be higher. Put differently, MLG events don't have a "down period" that bottoms out as much as MTV/CC/etc for the 18-24 demo and MLG viewers tend to stick around for 3+ hours, so the ad space I buy can possibly go further than if I throw my eggs in the "peak" viewership basket for cable television's more popular shows.
Anyway, that's how I'm reading it. That's possibly why the 3+ hour number is directly below the AQH numbers, as well.
It is insane how many major news outlets are writing about MLG after every single tournament. They are doing SOOO much the correct way - no western organization has ever done this before. MLG is our chance to go main stream if we will want it in the future.
I think i really like this.....but....... i just dont get it if they realise it is mostly due to SC2. I hope he realises, because saying most of this growth was related to other factors would just make me really sad
On December 08 2011 07:39 firehand101 wrote: I think i really like this.....but....... i just dont get it if they realise it is mostly due to SC2. I hope he realises, because saying most of this growth was related to other factors would just make me really sad
I'm certain they know this.
It's just in MLG's best interest to make it appear the growth is as wide as possible. Creating a diverse portfolio.
On December 08 2011 07:39 firehand101 wrote: I think i really like this.....but....... i just dont get it if they realise it is mostly due to SC2. I hope he realises, because saying most of this growth was related to other factors would just make me really sad
I'm certain they know this.
It's just in MLG's best interest to make it appear the growth is as wide as possible. Creating a diverse portfolio.
I know, its just they are getting soooo much attention now, and to see it as MLG instead of Starcraft is just a bit wierd right now. I know there are many other games at MLG, but they would have never broken any of these records without SC2, i just dont know if we want to promote MLG or SC2...
On December 08 2011 07:39 firehand101 wrote: I think i really like this.....but....... i just dont get it if they realise it is mostly due to SC2. I hope he realises, because saying most of this growth was related to other factors would just make me really sad
I'm certain they know this.
It's just in MLG's best interest to make it appear the growth is as wide as possible. Creating a diverse portfolio.
I know, its just they are getting soooo much attention now, and to see it as MLG instead of Starcraft is just a bit wierd right now. I know there are many other games at MLG, but they would have never broken any of these records without SC2, i just dont know if we want to promote MLG or SC2...
Friend Tip: Don't say this in front of LoL kids they'll get so mad. OMG LOL HAS SO MANY MORE PLAYERS STARCRAFT II IS MINOR!!?!*531131...So bad. You can say anything, they just don't listen.
But I mean, MLG are def recognizing that this is mainly due to SC2 by offering more SC2 streams and bigger prize pools so don't worry about it. Can't say they don't have a good business model either.
On December 07 2011 00:27 sabas123 wrote: bigger than comedy central0_o why dont they go on real tv?
They should; maybe I'll start watching TV if they do ^_^
well the article compares MLG to: Comedy Central: demographic Males: sub demographic 12-24 Lets be honest Comedy Central gets more viewers than just the male 18-24 demographic. While I'm happy to see the numbers be as good as they are; I can't stand "spinning" numbers to show what you want. Anyone have a link where I can see if MLG beat one of the big three networks (demographic males 18-24)?
Very nice numbers though the whole cable network comparison was a little silly considering they only based it off of males from 18 to 24 over a 1/4 hour period. That feels quite conceited.
On December 08 2011 08:59 Telcontar wrote: Very nice numbers though the whole cable network comparison was a little silly considering they only based it off of males from 18 to 24 over a 1/4 hour period. That feels quite conceited.
You have to realize that is the audience that watches the most those cable networks.
On December 08 2011 07:39 firehand101 wrote: I think i really like this.....but....... i just dont get it if they realise it is mostly due to SC2. I hope he realises, because saying most of this growth was related to other factors would just make me really sad
I'm certain they know this.
It's just in MLG's best interest to make it appear the growth is as wide as possible. Creating a diverse portfolio.
I know, its just they are getting soooo much attention now, and to see it as MLG instead of Starcraft is just a bit wierd right now. I know there are many other games at MLG, but they would have never broken any of these records without SC2, i just dont know if we want to promote MLG or SC2...
I actually have a friend who never watched MLG before, but got to watch the stream thanks to the youtube link. I mean he knows I play SC 2 and he knows there is a scene and that it's played on tv in korea (I didn't tell him common knowledge, I guess?!?!?) I'm trying to convince him to play the game and I think there is a high possibilty he'll pick it up....
Well anyway yes MLG promotes SC 2. What you don't understand that MLG is a lot of work to pull off and they are doing a good job. It's as much them as it's us watching their high production quality. I mean compare two tournaments NASL and MLG now I like NASL and all, but for somebody new to the concept he wouldn't receive the best introduction.