Ozone’s Reading the Nation insight series provides a seven-day view of the topical news and seasonal events driving reader engagement across our nationwide audience of more than 40m online consumers.
With a variety of sporting disciplines in action in the past seven days, reader engagement with Sport content across the Ozone Premium Web platform continues to ride high. Last week, interest in Rugby, Snooker, Darts and Football, as the regular season reaches its dramatic conclusion, drove the category to growth.
Topical News
Careers content careered to the top category by reader engagement growth last week – page views were almost a third higher. Further rail strikes due in May drove 3x higher page views for the Unions topic within the category.
Interest in a number of disciplines increased Sport page views overall by +8%.
Victory for England in the Women’s Six Nations saw the Red Roses win a third successive grand slam title. That result, plus interest in the Gallagher Premiership, grew Rugby page views by +36%.
There was 2.9x growth for Snooker as the World Championships kicked off.
And victory for teenage arrows sensation Luke Littler at the Austrian Open rose Darts page views by almost two fifths. So far in 2024, reader engagement with the sport is 6x higher than the same period last year.
Want more fabulous Sport – including insights into the Euros and Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games? Visit ozoneproject.com/summerofsport
Seasonal Events
There was double-digit growth for Education content last week as the mock exam season continued. Within the category, page views for the Educational Assessment topic grew by almost three-quarters. We’ll see further growth in May as GCSE and A-level students sit the exams for real.
With the early May bank holiday coming up next week, there was seasonal engagement growth for related content. With online readers looking for ways to celebrate the occasion, there was 3.5x page views growth for the Bank Holidays topic within Events & Attractions content.
And for house proud Brits extra time off brings with it a list of jobs around the house. An overall increase of +15% for Home & Garden was driven by Interior Decorating and Gardening, which grew +50% and +27% respectively.
Coming Up
May
Eurovision: Typically, Music & Audio page views will grow by +38% in May on Eurovision interest. As an appointment-to-view TV event, the content will drive related Television growth of c.20%
Football season ends: The end of the season and cup finals drive Football engagement to avg. May growth of a third. Football interest will continue into June and July with the Euros
Spring Bank Holiday: On average, Bank Holiday page views increase by +28% in May on the Spring Bank Holiday
June
Champions League Final: Football page views grew +52% in June last year as Man City won the Champions League final. The 2024 final takes place on Saturday, 1 June.
EURO 2024: Expect Football engagement to be c.30% higher in June 2024 when UEFA EURO 2024 kicks off on Friday, 14 June. The final takes place on Sunday, 14 July.
Father’s Day: Planning for the perfect Father’s Day present grew Gifting page views by more than a quarter last year. This year, the occasion takes place on Sunday, 16 June.
Glastonbury Festival: Headlined this year by Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay, expect Festivals page views to increase 3.5x on Glastonbury and the start of summer festival season.
July
Wimbledon: 31.7m Tennis page views in July 2023 grew +330% month on month on significant reader interest in the Championships Wimbledon.
British Grand Prix: 10.7m Auto Racing/Formula 1 page views last July when the British Grand Prix took place were +25% higher vs. 2023 season average.
The Olympic Games: When it began in July 2021, the Tokyo Games drove Olympic Sports page to significant 12x growth month on month
The Euros: Last July, interest in the start of the Women’s World Cup drove 305m monthly Football page views – the second highest level ever
