This document discusses new broadcasting methods in IPTV through the case study of the Starcraft broadcasting scene. It outlines how tournament operators are the driving force behind IPTV in eSports by hosting livestreams of tournaments that attract millions of viewers. Community-generated content like player streams, news platforms, and wikis have also helped grow the audience for eSports broadcasting. The success of this new IPTV model shows that easy access, interactivity, and an engaged community can lead to a low-cost and innovative way of broadcasting competitions online.

1. New Broadcasting Ways In IPTV –
The Case of the Starcraft
Broadcasting Scene
World Media Economics & Management Conference
Thessaloniki, 25.05.2012
Tobias M. Scholz
University of Siegen
tobias.scholz@uni-siegen.de
Pictures by Julia Christophers

2. Current Situation
“
Piracy is almost
always a service
”
problem and not
a pricing problem.
Gabe Newell, 2011
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3. eSports (1)
• „eSports is an area of sport activities in
which people develop and train mental or
physical abilities in the use of information
and communication technologies.“
(Wagner, 2006)
• Typical eSports member:
– Age between 18-29
– Male
– Extremely technophile
– Digital native
– Plays in average 100 minutes per day
(ESL Study, 2011)
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4. Why is eSports an interesting research field
• Over 10 years expertise in IPTV
– Isolated from traditional media (only few interactions)
– Spearheading the videostream technology
• Generates revenue
– Advertising
– Sponsoring
– Pay per view
• Video streaming and video demand structure exists
• User generated content
– News platforms
– eSports-related Wikipedia
– Coverage, results and statistics are community driven
• Unique target audience
• Piracy is no issue
• Niche, but vivid and volatile, industry
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5. Starcraft II
• Release: 2010
• Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
• Genre: Real Time Strategy
• Players: 3.740.940
Europe: 1.052.755
America: 1.381.444
Korea/Taiwan: 796.600
Southeast Asia: 152.399
China: 352.740
(sc2ranks.com)
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6. IPTV in eSports (1)
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7. IPTV in eSports (2)
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8. IPTV in eSports (3)
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9. Team Liquid TLO (11.10.2011)
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10. Tournament Operators (1)
• Tournament operators are the driving force
behind IPTV in eSports
• Other streamers are:
– Professional gamers
– Independent casters
– Upcoming amateurs
– Etc.
• Lack of explicit and consistent way of counting
viewer numbers
– Peak number of concurrent viewers
– Gross numbers (every time somebody is
opening the stream)
– Absolute number of viewers
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11. Tournament Operators (2)
• Dreamhack Summer 2011 had over 1.5 million
absolute viewers.
• GSL Team League in February 2011 had a peak of
377.000 viewers in their finals.
• GSL announced for the time from 2009 until June
2011 that it had over 53 million viewer combined live
and VoDs.
• Several peak numbers
– Dreamhack Summer 2011: 65.535
– NASL finals 2011: 84.323
• IEM had over 4 million contacts (gross numbers).
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12. Tournament Operators (3)
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13. Streams on the 19.6.2011
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14. Barcraft
• „An event is basically a gathering of individuals
in a public setting such as a pub or restaurant
for the purpose of viewing live or pre-recorded
Starcraft II competition [...] while enjoying some good
grub and good company.“
(Malarh, 2011)
Barcrafts in 2011 (Xifan, 2011)
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15. Results
• Easy access is the key criterion.
• Strong need for interaction and participation.
Problems with the focus on players.
• Community-based content generation is
allowed and encouraged.
• Advertising and pay per view is no hindrance,
but support for eSports in general and
streamers in specific.
• Cost-efficiency is attracting traditional television
(cooperations with CBS and ZDF).
• Stars and innovation emerge within the community.
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16. Thank you
http://www.gamestudy.de
http://pmg.uni-siegen.de
tobias.scholz@uni-siegen.de
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