Analyst Speak: Young audience leads sharp rise in on-demand TV viewing
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More than 15.6m adults with digital TV have viewed TV content on-demand in the last six months, either through their TV, a computer or a handheld device. That equates to 39% of adults with digital TV and growth of 27% compared to six months previously.
The audience is led by 15-24-year-olds, over half of whom (57%) have watched on-demand. Six in ten people with cable TV have done so, perhaps because of the availability of the BBC iPlayer on Virgin Media cable.
The TV is the most commonly used device for watching on-demand content. Six in ten have done so on TV, 38% on a desktop computer, 33% on a laptop and 3% on a handheld device. This is at least in part due to the different viewing experience between computer and TV screens. It's not just size but often the location of the device too. Online on-demand viewing is a more solitary activity — three-quarters of those watching on a PC mostly watch alone, against only 44% watching via TV. Six in ten on-demand viewers prefer to watch on TV rather than a PC.
The ad-funded model for on-demand content seems to be accepted by consumers. Three-quarters (76%) would be happy to watch an ad before a programme if it meant the programme was free to watch, while 72% prefer ads to be pre-roll rather than in the middle of a programme.
Even with the growing availability of on-demand via TV and PVRs, it's unlikely everyone will be their own scheduler yet. Half of respondents prefer to watch TV programmes at the time they're broadcast rather than record them, while only 43% prefer watching programmes on-demand or recorded to fit around their schedule. It seems people still look first to the TV schedules to decide what to watch rather than the programmes they have available on-demand — three-quarters said watching linear TV was their preferred method of viewing.
On-demand TV meets a need for people to catch up with programmes they've missed. Being able to do this via the TV, rather than a smaller computer screen in a potentially less comfortable location, certainly increases the attractiveness of on-demand viewing. However, there's still a social need for programmes to be watched live so you don't miss those water-cooler discussions of appointment-to-view programmes and this is an important point for advertisers to consider.
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Readers' comments (2)
Tim Hurlour | Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:06 pm
Tim Hurlour - Analyst Speak: Young audience leads
the future will be re-edited content with advertising edited into it...
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Alex Barclay | Sat, 31 Jan 2009 8:34 pm
Alex Barclay - Analyst Speak: Young audience leads
Yup it's true that the social dimension is important in terms of what children and teenagers refer to in conversation but one key element is that on demand allows these segments to manage the time they have very efficiently. In the same day they can 'backload' the way they consume on demand delivered content. For example they can go to school, watch live broadcast telly, do some homework, go out to skateboard and drink cider, Twitter, go to the park, then watch whatever it was they missed when they were out alone or in compant. This means that the next day they've got the beef on the latest episode of Skins or whatever. On demand also means that these segments can sneak around a bit too and unless they're parents are ultra-vigilant and I-security sussed, they can watch content that's er, more mature. Of course other issues include accessibility and attention span as there are a lot more platforms and a lot of scanning, clicking and hopping going on too. Interestingly for advertisers the deal remains the same: getting what you sell in front of as many eyeballs as possible in a way that expresses your brand and represents what you sell in a dynamic, attractive and compelling way to consumers. So the old rules still apply: selling is still about really understanding which shows or social networks create value for the target segment, hooking your offer onto those and making sure your offer adds to and reinforces those values too.
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