A survey conducted by Asia Media Intelligence (AMI) in four Asian markets - Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok - has revealed that sports is the top choice of viewers regardless of where they are watching television. The first-ever out-of-home (OOH) viewing research was commissioned by ESPN -Star Sports among males between 18 and 45 years old. It included analysis of recent peoplemeter data.

"Our OOH study confirms existing peoplemeter research and reflects the studies in the US: sports is an appointment viewing priority - both in and out of the home. The research shows a substantial, captured and passionate audience that cannot be ignored by advertisers, marketers and media planners in their media buying decisions," says ESPN Star Sports senior vice-president advertising & integrated sales Vib Sharma.

The research suggests that there is an approximate three million male OOH viewing audience across the four-city study.

"We've always suspected that sports was driving out-of-home viewing, but have not until now been able to present quantifiable research. This study makes it clear that OOH viewing is gaining ground across Asia - be it in pubs in Hong Kong or coffee shops in Kuala Lumpur, and sports is what they are watching," adds Sharma.

Results show that 82 per cent of all those surveyed watch out-of-home. The spontaneous OOH choice was sports (78 per cent) followed by movies (36 per cent) and news (34 per cent). When aided, the number rose to 89 per cent saying they prefer to watch sports when it comes to out-of-home viewing. That means nine in 10 of those surveyed watch sports out-of-home.

When asked what sports they watched, 97 per cent of respondents said football was their sport of choice. The football respondents said they watched the most was the English Premier League (91 per cent), World Cup (59 per cent), UEFA (45 per cent). When asked who they watch with, top of the list were friends and colleagues in groups of four or more people.

A significant number - 96 per cent - of those polled viewed sports by appointment. Venues varied in each market with 71 per cent in Hong Kong saying they watched in pubs and bars, 65 per cent in Bangkok and 61 per cent in Singapore said they watched at friend's homes, while respondents in Kuala Lumpur said they watched at different locations, restaurants (52 per cent), streetside stalls (45 per cent), friend's home (43 per cent), coffee shops (40 per cent) and pubs and bars (36 per cent). These findings reflect Asian market nuances. In Hong Kong for instance where socializing is a big part of the lifestyle, pubs and bars were the top OOH venues.

Peoplemeter data from Taylor Nelson Sofres in Singapore shows that sports reaches more viewers than any other genre on cable with an 86 per cent reach, followed by other English programming and documentaries at 85 per cent and music at 78 per cent.

The English Premier League also came out tops in peoplemeter research with EPL matches consistently ranking among the top five. Sports was also seen to reach a comparative weekly cumulative 78 per cent more viewers than all three cable news channels combined (CNN, BBC World and CNBC).