Audience Inventory 2014: Free to Air results

TV Tonight readers have thrown their arms around the ABC in the 2014 Audience Inventory, in 964 completed surveys.

Free to Air commercial TV still dominates preferred viewing, but there are underlying concerns about its delivery.

Readers voted ABC the most Reliable at starting shows on time, most Trustworthy and best at Rescheduling cancelled shows. There was also a big response to the issues of Public Broadcasters Remaining Independent of Government Influence and Having Funding Maintained, contrasted by a decided lack of enthusiasm for Merging ABC and SBS.

By contrast Nine was most most Unreliable, most Untrustworthy and worst at Rescheduling cancelled shows, with Seven second in all three categories.

That’s a bad rap given that readers still define their three biggest concerns as: Keeping an EPG Up to Date; Finishing a Series Once it Starts; Shows Starting / Finishing on Time. These three have topped the list of viewer concerns across all 6 years of the Audience Inventory.

There were rises in Second Screen viewing this year, with 45% of readers now saying they partake in this every day. Internet surfing dominates second-screen use with official network platforms still trailing well behind other social media sites.

This year there were questions on Timeshifting for the first time, with big divisions emerging. While 25% of viewers noted they don’t Timeshift at all, another 22% are Timeshifting three-quarters of their viewing and 21% are Timeshifting a quarter of total viewing. What is most startling is that 26% of readers indicated they usually Timeshift from 7:30pm, and another 21% said they start as early as 6:30pm. Industry wisdom that suggests viewers are Timeshifting from 9:30pm may need further scrutiny, with just 7% indicating it was their preferred start time.

iview was again voted the most popular Catch-Up service and the only one voted Excellent by readers. The popularity of tenplay has also increased.

Amongst the comments this year there were repeated calls for less Reality, more Drama and Comedy and fewer Ads. Together with unreliable programming, these combined factors are sending more and more viewers to Timeshifting and internet-sourced content.

The trend towards this cannot be understated.

44% indicated they use an Australian-based IPTV service choosing Apple TV / iTunes, Other option and Telstra TBox as their preferred providers. Foxtel’s Presto made a disappointing debut.

35% of readers indicated they are using a non-Australian based IPTV service. Of those “Other” was the most popular followed by Netflix and BBC iPlayer. Note a strong response to the issues of Legal, Affordable Downloads, Promptly Available and Completing the Installation of the NBN.

As this is the sixth year of the Audience Inventory, comparative trends are denoted where applicable.

* denotes multiple answers allowed

Which of the following do you watch regularly? *
Free to Air Commercial TV 85%
Free to Air Public Broadcaster TV 58%
Subscription TV 37%
Community TV 3%

There was a slight rise in viewership of Public Broadcasters.

Do you have Digital or Analogue TV?
HD TV 78%
HD Set Top Box 18%
SD Set Top Box 3%
Analogue TV 1%

Which FTA channels do you watch regularly? *
ABC 78%
TEN 71%
Seven 66%
Nine 60%
SBS ONE 49%
ABC2 46%
ELEVEN 45%
GO! 37%
7mate 35%
ABC News 24 32%
SBS 2 32%
7TWO 30%
ONE 29%
GEM 25%
WIN 10%
Southern Cross 10%
Prime 10%
ABC3 9%
NITV 3%
Community TV 3%
NBN 3%
Imparja 0.3%

Up: SBS ONE, SBS 2, ONE.
Down: Seven, GEM.

Which PVRs do you have? *
Other 40%
No PVR 30%
IQ / IQ2 28%
TIVO 5%
MyStar 3%

Up: IQ / IQ2

Which network is the most reliable for starting on time?
ABC 60%
Foxtel 19%
SBS 12%
TEN 6%
Seven 2%
Nine 1%

An improvement by SBS this year.

And the most unreliable?
Nine 48%
Seven 42%
TEN 8%
ABC 1%
SBS 1%
Foxtel 0%

Nine overtakes Seven as most Unreliable network.

Which network is the most trustworthy at delivering your shows?
ABC 53%
Foxtel 22%
SBS 10%
TEN 8%
Seven 5%
Nine 3%

SBS lifts in the ‘Trustworthy’ stakes while Nine drops.

And most untrustworthy at delivering your shows?
Nine 51%
Seven 29%
TEN 17%
ABC 1%
Foxtel 1%
SBS 1%

Nine has risen as ‘Untrustworthy’ while Seven has improved.

Who is best at rescheduling cancelled shows?
ABC 35%
TEN 21%
Foxtel 19%
Seven 13%
Nine 6%
SBS 6%

Foxtel improves this year but Seven and Nine both drop.

And worst?
Nine 50%
Seven 33%
TEN 16%
Foxtel 1%
ABC 1%
SBS 0%

Which do you use for TV guide info? *
On screen EPG 59%
Online guide 48%
Foxtel Guide 31%
App on smartphone / tablet 25%
Weekly Newspaper Guide 20%
Daily Newspaper guide 11%
Magazine guide 9%
ICE Guide 6%
Other 3

Up: online guide.
Down: Weekly newspaper guide

And which do you most prefer?
On screen EPG 32%
Online guide 22%
Foxtel Guide 20%
App on smartphone / tablet 10%
Weekly Newspaper Guide 9%
Magazine guide 3%
ICE Guide 3%
Daily Newspaper guide 2%
Other 1%

Up: online guide.

Degree of satisfaction with multichannels
EXCELLENT
None

VERY GOOD
ABC2
ABC News 24

GOOD
7TWO
GO!
ELEVEN
7mate
GEM
ONE
SBS 2

FAIR / TERRIBLE
None

NOT APPLICABLE
NITV
ABC3

No change for multichannels!

Which is your preferred second-screen device?
PC or Mac 35%
Tablet 33%
Smartphone 19%
None 14%

PC / Mac regains top spot over Tablet.

Which second-screen platforms do you use regularly? *
Internet (surfing) 78%
Facebook 48%
Twitter 30%
Blogs / Forums 22%
None 14%
Other 5%
Jump In 4%
Beamly 4%
Fango 1%

There was a big rise this year for Internet surfing, but drops for Facebook, Twitter and the renamed Beamly.

How often do you use second-screen whilst watching TV?
Every day 45%
A few times a week 22%
Never 16%
A few times a month 8%
“Event TV” only 3%
Less than once a month 3%
About once a month 2%

The number of viewers using second screens Every Day takes a sharp rise while the amount of people who have Never used second-screens tumbles.

Which official online Catch-Up TV services do you use? *
iview 62%
tenplay 38%
SBS on Demand 30%
Plus7 27%
None 21%
Foxtel Go 19%
Jump-In 19%

Despite being the most popular catch-up service, iview has slipped this year while tenplay is well up.

How often do you watch official Catch-Up services?
Once or twice a month 29%
Rarely or never 28%
A few times a week 19%
About once a week 19%
Once a day or more 5%

Once a month overtakes Never for top spot this year.

Which device do you primarily watch official Catch-Up services?
PC or Mac 40%
Tablet 23%
TV 18%
None 12%
Smartphone 5%
Other 1%

More viewers are using smartphones this year than last year.

Please rate your satisfaction with each Catch-Up Service
EXCELLENT
iview

GOOD
None

NO OPINION / NOT APPLICABLE
Foxtel Go
Jump-In
SBS On Demand
PLUS7
tenplay

POOR / VERY DISAPPOINTING
None

Do you use an Australian based IPTV service?  * (56% of respondents skipped this question)
Apple TV / iTunes 43%
Other option 25%
Telstra TBox 13%
Fetch TV 7%
Quickflix 6%
BBC iPlayer 5%
Presto 1%

Presto makes an entry this year but it’s a very modest debut, suggesting a slow uptake.

Which non-Australian based IPTV services do you use? * (65% of respondents skipped this question)
Other 51%
Netflix 36%
BBC iPlayer 23%
Hulu 20%
Amazon Prime 5%

It was the first time this question was asked.

How much Australian TV do you watch as Timeshifted?
None 25%
About 75 percent 22%
About 25 percent 21%
About 100 percent 17%
About 50 percent 15%

What time do you usually start to Timeshift?
7:30pm 26%
I don’t really Timeshift 26%
6:30pm or earlier 21%
8:30pm 17%
9:30pm 7%
10:30pm or later 3%

Both Timeshifted questions were new for 2014.

Which is the more offensive on TV?
None 45%
Violence 37%
Strong language 10%
Sexual content & references 9%

Have you ever participated in a Ratings survey?
No. Never been asked. 79%
Yes, in the last 5 years. 11%
Yes, more than 10 years ago. 5%
No, but I have been asked to participate. 3%
Yes in the last 5 -10 years. 2%

Rate any or all of the following FTA issues
VERY IMPORTANT
Keeping an EPG up to date
Finishing a series once it starts
Shows starting / finishing on time
ABC, SBS independent of govt influence
ABC, SBS funding maintained
Legal, affordable downloads, promptly available
Completing the installation of the NBN
ABC maintaining in-house productions
Multichannels offering genuine alternatives, not simulcasts
Making primary channels HD
Fast-tracking
Punishment for breaches of the Code of Practice
Banning gambling ads
Playing sport live and in HD
Reducing on screen clutter (watermarks etc)
Catch-Up TV adding content swiftly after broadcast
Catch-Up TV
Catch Up shows available on all devices
OzTAM ratings coding to reflect EPG titles
Less Twitter included during broadcasts
Making TV ratings = Metro + Regionals
Australia Network retained

IMPORTANT:
Promos that fairly represent the show
Maintaining local content in regional Australia
More Aussie content on Digital Channels
Better bandwidth for multichannels
More subtitles for the hearing impaired
Starting programmes “on the half hour”
Rolling full credits at the end of a show

NO OPINION:
Dropping Reach Rule for broadcasters
HbbTV / FreeviewPlus
Implementing new Anti-Siphoning List rules
Copyright protection from illegal piracy

SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT:
None

NOT IMPORTANT
3D broadcasts
Merging public broadcasters

All results have been rounded.

Still to come: Pay TV Results