The smart money on smart TVs
Freeview talks up connected TVs after opinions suggest we aren't using them for online content very much.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Hands up who is using an internet-connected TV and actually accessing the web (I am!)?
Last week Nine’s Group Sales & Marketing Director Peter Wiltshire told the National Radio Conference on the Gold Coast that not many of us were using our TV screens to connect to the web.
“The statistics on that right now are that right now 10 per cent of homes have a smart TV and are connected to the internet,” he said.
“I would give you my right arm that of those TVs, that are connected to the internet, only one tenth of them are using internet services on those screens.”
According to the latest Multi-Screen report, Internet-capable TVs are now in 30% of homes -but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are all utilising them for online content.
Freeview has also weighed in, claiming 50% of FreeviewPlus certified TVs are now connected.
It launched FreeviewPlus with hybrid TV technology last September, bringing together an EPG with catch-up services. There are now 10 FreeviewPlus-certified manufacturers in Australia including Sony, LG, Samsung, Hisense, Changhong, Hitachi and Bauhn.
But Freeview has not revealed how many products have been sold with FreeviewPlus branding.
Freeview CEO Liz Ross said: “Australians are known as early adopters and the market is developing rapidly as we are leading the way with the level of FTA services and user experience available via FreeviewPlus.
“When we look at total panel TV sales year on year, we can see that connected TVs are growing overall and they are attributing to a greater share of TV panel sales with approximately 15% share growth.”
While the industry awaits some verifiable numbers on how many of us are watching content via internet-connected TVs, the recent Audience Inventory of 1015 people surveyed indicates the number is very significant.
Which device do you use to watch Catch-Up services? (check all that apply)
PC or Mac 46%
TV 38%
Tablet 34%
Smartphone 12%
None 12%
Other 5%
19 Responses
I’m not surprised that TV based internet streaming isn’t all that high – it is soooooooooooooooo slow. It took almost an hour on my Samsung smart tv today to drill down to Supernatural on Tenplay. Press the down button, wait 1 minute or so for that to take effect – etc. Other than ABC’s iView, catch up tv via TVs or PVRs is a total waste of time.
It must be your TV or internet (or both). I have no problem viewing content thru my connected TV.
if people are not using the smart tv’s as much its because of the internet connection. Its too slow or the cost doesnt justify it.
We’ve got a smart LG, about 3 years old. We use it occasionally for catch up SBS and ABC stuff but because we connect via the remote, it is a bit clunky. Spose we could attach the laptop but as someone mentioned previously, it’s a bit of a pain.
For laptops I recommend you stream via Apple TV or Chromecast. I also split the desktop screen in order to keep working while watching content. I do this for previews that require flash which my connected TV can’t manage.
Recently an icon for Netflix appeared on my 2yr old Panasonic smart TV but still nothing from Stan or Presto. Iview and Bigpond movies get the most use from the other icons. Freeview is there but so are the other catch-up services.
My TV is still dumb but I do have an Apple TV box with a few catch up options, that said I’ve never really used them. Just checked them out to test them at this point they don’t interest me unless there is a particular program I’m wanting to watch.
I watch catch-up TV on my tablet or phone because the resolution on my computer and TV are just so makes the quality look so bad
I use the apps on my blu ray player as the tv is too old to have wifi. However I have it set to the UK for bbc iplayer and netflix.
I probably end up watching more online content through my PC, simply for the fact that it’s ‘mine’ – there’s no fighting over control of the screen. But if watching something *with* people, the TV wins.
I don’t anymore, simply because it’s too hard to use. The iView app on my Sony TV has no search function, so you have to do a lot of scrolling to find the show you want. My DVR and laptop with Chromecast let me search, so that’s what I use instead. YouTube has been discontinued on my TV, and there’s been no addition of Netflix or Stan, so I cast all of those from my laptop or my husband’s tablet. We used to use the Ten and Seven apps, but found they were rarely updated with the shows we needed to catch up on. So we got out of the habit of checking. I’d be interested to know whether new Smart TVs are better, but we feel like Sony forgot about ours so we’ve found alternate ways to use the Internet on it. Thank god for Chromecast!
I watch internet based stuff on my TV, but there’s no way I’d use their clunky interface to do it. Controlling Netflix through an app and then casting to the TV with Chromecast would be so many times faster than trying to spell out a shows name with a TV remote.
I doubt having a FreeviewPlus branded TV is worth anything these days, with so many ways to use the internet on your TV without their “smart” capabilities.
TV is meant to be a relaxing ‘easy’ viewing experience, where you can just flick something on, sit back and watch it. While think it’s inevitable that smart TV’s are the future, I for one enjoy not being connected to the internet on my ‘dumb’ TV. It’s a point of difference from every other device that needs the Internet.
And how many people have no idea what previous posters are talking about???!! Technology moves so fast that I suspect most people have been left far behind – unless there’s a 10 year old in the vicinity.
I’m in my late sixties. I’ve got a WDTV and Chromecast. I use these to watch catchup or downloads. I got the Chromecast because iview dropped WDTV support but I find it handy for all sorts of things
We use the internet on the smart TV nearly every day – we find it’s far easier than firing up another device (like the PS4) to watch netflix/foxtel/youube et al. It would help if all the streamers (stan!) actually bothered to have an app for the smart TVs though – it’s such a pain to attach the laptop to the TV to watch a 30 minute show…
Separate comment: I remember a few years back, Sony was really pushing a feature on their internet connected TV’s where you could pause a programme, and highlight an item to buy. The TV would do it’s best to find the most similar item/s for you, and then you could buy them. It didn’t catch on because no one knew how to set up the internet connection.
Maybe if it was easier to connect TV’s to the web, more people would?
We are too.
But there’s a few other things that might make the numbers rubbery: what percentage of installed “Smart TV” sets have apps for all services? (Ours don’t). What about other devices e.g. T-Box, ‘Smart’ blu-ray players, Airplay, etc. – are they counted? Are they just counting FreeviewPlus-enabled panels? (Again, ours aren’t).
And, let’s be totally honest – while in our case the TV’s are “smart” and “internet-connected”, and we do watch some streaming content, the vast majority of ‘on-line’ content we watch … ahem, probably wouldn’t be counted…
I know most people are probably in a different mindset to me, but if my TV had internet access, I wouldn’t connect it.
I only sometimes use my Wii and PS3 to watch YouTube videos on the big screen. Most of my friends use Netflix on their TV, but prefer to watch that on a laptop. If I could afford Netflix, then I’d probably just use my laptop based upon what they’ve said about the viewing experience.
I use my tablet and laptop to watch iview/TenPlay/SBSOndemand. If I want to watch sat Doctor Who on a bigger screen, I’ll use a HDMI cable or I’ll “cast” it over to my TV.