Multiscreen Report: TV viewing down 13% over 4 years
TV viewing, including Live TV, is down -but we are increasing what we watch on devices.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News, Top Stories
Watching Free to Air and Subscription TV on in-home TV sets has dropped 13% in four years, according to the latest data in OzTAM’s Multiscreen Report.
In 2012 Australians watched an average of 97:15hrs per month of Broadcast TV on in home television sets per month (live + played back through the TV set within seven days).
This year that figure is 85:12 hrs.
91.2% of all Broadcast TV viewed within seven days is Live, down from 93% in 2013.
But Timeshifted viewing has increased. In 2012 we averaged 6:33hrs per month of playback through the TV set. Now it rises to 7:28hrs.
86.1% of Australians watched Broadcast TVÂ on in-home TV sets each week. Last year it was 88.1%.
Australians spent an average of 30:38hrs month using TV screens for ‘Other use’, such as SVOD, Catch-Up, Timeshifted beyond 28 days from original broadcast, DVD and Internet.
SVOD services may well be behind the 8:33hrs per month we spent watching any video on the internet -it’s up from 2015’s 6:57hrs.
While the number of TV sets has fallen slightly from 2.0 per household to 1.9, we are increasing the devices we use. 35% of homes now have internet-capable TVs, 49% have tablets and 81% of Aussies aged 14+ own a smartphone.
That’s also matched by 84.3% of all video viewing– counting all screens, broadcast & non-broadcast content – taking place on in-home TV sets. A year ago it was 88.4%.
Meanwhile 76% of ‘online Australians’ are now multitasking their TV / internet simultaneously -up from about 60% in 2011. 33% say they are ‘triple-screening.’ Older Australians aged 50 – 64 increased their multitasking.
OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer said: “Many more screens, vastly greater content and platform choice, yet the same number of hours in the day: if anything’s surprising it’s how strong broadcast TV remains. Since 2012 the Australian Multi-Screen Report has tracked the impact of new technologies on viewing of TV and other video content. The interesting thing in the latest quarter is that 8-28 day playback viewing on TV sets, and VPM content played on connected devices, together add approximately 2.5 to 3 per cent of viewing on top of 7-day Consolidated broadcast viewing. While relatively small overall, for certain individual program episodes this longer-tail and VPM viewing can be significant.”
Deborah Wright, Chair of Regional TAM and Nine Entertainment Co Director of Regional Strategy, said: “With the greater choices available to consumers in both content and platforms, it is encouraging to see broadcast television continuing to deliver strong reach results to Australians via their in-home TV sets. In fact, our regional audiences spend almost 95 hours on average during a month watching broadcast television, which is 9.5 hours more per month than the national average.”
The latest Australian Multi-Screen Report – from Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen, and covering the first quarter of calendar 2016 – continues its look at how audience behaviour is influenced by greater content and platform choice, and access to new consumer technologies.
Together these changes create unprecedented opportunities to view broadcast TV and other video and affect the time spent with various screens.
Ongoing trends include:
· Australian households have more screens, the majority of which are internet-capable.
o There are an average of 6.4 screens per home, up from 5.4 in Q1 2012.
o Tablets have seen the most dramatic growth, while the number of TV sets has fallen slightly from 2.0 per household to 1.9 now. [refer graphic: Average number of devices per home]
o As any connected screen can be used like a PVR, more devices create more opportunities to view.
o OzTAM’s Video Player Measurement service, which measures viewing of participating broadcasters’ internet-delivered TV content, shows approximately 2.31 million connected devices access catch up TV each week.
· More content choice and ways to get it mean Australians are spreading their screen activity.
o 86.1 per cent of Australians watched broadcast TV (free-to-air and subscription channels) on in-home TV sets each week in Q1 2016 (88.1 per cent in Q1 2015).
o Broadcast reach remains strong in all major age groups.
o Content and platform options continue to grow, and the TV set can be used for many purposes in addition to watching television.
· Across the day Australians spent an average of 30 hours and 38 minutes per month (30:38) on other TV screen use in the latest quarter, with 13:34 of that in prime time.
Examples of such other TV screen use:
· viewing TV network live streaming and catch up services;
· watching DVDs;
· playing back recorded broadcast material outside the 28-day Consolidated viewing window;
· internet browsing; streaming music; and accessing over-the-top internet-delivered video services.
o As the number of hours in the day remains constant, the net effect of greater choice and opportunity to view is Australians spend a little less time each day watching live TV or playing it back on their TV sets within seven days than they did a year ago.
o Across all screens, devices and types of video however, 84.3 per cent of viewing is to TV content watched on in-home sets within seven days of original broadcast: on average 85:12 per month.
o Year-on-year, the share of time spent viewing any video content on computers, tablets or smartphones rose from 11.6 per cent to 15.7 per cent.
o While people, particularly those aged 24 and under, increasingly use connected devices to watch TV and other video, broadcast TV viewed on TV sets accounts for the largest proportion of viewing time on any single device.
· ‘Longer-tail’ viewing is becoming significant and is one of the factors impacting the decline in time spent viewing live broadcast TV content, particularly in prime time.
o 1.6 per cent of all broadcast TV watched on in-home TV sets in any four-week period is time-shifted (played back) between eight and 28 days of the original broadcast. In prime time the proportion of 8-28 day playback rises to 2.1 per cent.
o VPM material accounts for around 1 per cent of all broadcast content viewed each month.
o Together, 8-28 day time-shifted viewing on in-home TV sets and VPM viewing on connected devices now account for 2.5 to 3 per cent of monthly broadcast content watched.
o This ‘longer tail’ viewing is on top of broadcast TV watched live or played back within seven days. 8-28 day viewing and VPM viewing do not feature in the time spent viewing figures throughout much of the Multi-Screen Report.
· Online Australians maintain a high level of multi-screening.
o Simultaneous screen use is stabilising among younger consumers but continues to rise among certain older segments.
o 76 per cent of online Australians claim to multi-screen (watch TV and use the internet simultaneously).
o 33 per cent now say they access content on two or more devices while watching TV (i.e., triple-screening).
o Nine in 10 online consumers aged 16-34 say they multi-screen, little changed on the previous year, with people 65+’s multi-screening also largely stable.
o The 35–49 and 50–64 year-old segments both increased their multi-screen behaviour, with the bulk of growth in triple-screening.
· Popular activities on connected devices vary.
o The most common activities on desktop and laptop computers are email, search and banking.
o Key activities on tablets are similar to computers, with search, email and news the most common.
o The top smartphone activities are related to getting information outside the home, such as accessing maps and directions, checking the weather, and other small or frequent tasks.
o Checking social media is more prominent on both smartphones and tablets than computers.
o Watching online video is more popular on computers and tablets due to larger screen sizes (people’s tenth most common activity on computers, eighth on tablets).
o Among specific age groups 18+, 18-24s are most likely to watch online video on a computer (their third most common activity on that device), tablet (second most common) or smartphone (tenth).
o For 25-34s, watching online video on a tablet is third, on a computer sixth, and smartphone tenth.
o Among 35-49s watching online video is fourth on a tablet, tenth on a computer and outside the top ten on smartphones.
o People aged 50+ say watching online video is outside their top ten most popular activities on all three devices.
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS: Q1 (JANUARY – MARCH) 2016:
o 22.323 million Australians watch broadcast television (free-to-air and subscription channels) each month, with average weekly reach at 86.1% of the population[1].
o Australians watch on average 85 hours and 12 minutes (85:12) of broadcast TV on in-home television sets per month (live + played back through the TV set within seven days). Year-on-year this is down 4:16 per month.
o 91.2% of all broadcast TV viewed within seven days is live (77:44). Playback of broadcast content through the TV set within seven days comprises 8.8% (7:28 per month; 7:31 in Q1 2015).
o Approximately 99% of all broadcast TV material viewed each month takes place on in-home TV sets.[2]
o 100% of Australian television homes can access digital terrestrial television (DTT) channels.
97% can do so on every household TV set and 95% can receive high definition (HD) DTT broadcasts on all TV sets in the home.
o As people will often upgrade a tablet or mobile phone and retain the older one for secondary use, the number of screens in homes continues to grow even as penetration levels for various device types plateau:
o 58% of homes have PVRs; 17% have two or more (Q1 2015: 56%; 15%).
o 35% of homes have internet-capable TVs, whether connected or not (Q1 2015: 30%).
o 49% of homes have tablets (47% in Q1 2015).
o 81% of Australians aged 14+ own a smartphone (76% in Q1 2015)[3].
o Household internet penetration is stable at 81%.
o Australians spend on average 50:30 per month online[4].
O 13.03 million Australians watch some video on the internet each month (incl broadcast TV and non-broadcast content): on average 8:33 per month, up from 6:57/month a year ago. Such viewing is highest among teens (16:19 per month)[5].
o 84.3% of all video viewing[6] – across all screens, and including broadcast TV content viewed up to seven days after the original broadcast as well as non-broadcast content – takes place on in-home TV sets[7]:
o 85:12 per month on in-home TV sets (live + 7-day playback) (84.3%)
o 8:33 per month online via PCs/laptops (8.5%)
o 4:18 per month on smartphones (4.3%)[8]
o 3:01 per month on tablets (3%)[9]
(percentages above include rounding)
Amended.
19 Responses
My viewing habits have hardly changed in the last decade. I time shift almost everything, rarely watch commercial free to air, more regularly watch ABC and SBS (including ABC and SBS 2) wih the bulk of my viewing still Foxtel and from DVD. Newer additions like catch up services are used rarely (as I generally record the show from broadcast) and streaming services still feel unecessary to me. Probably the only change is that I’m watching less Foxtel than I used to, which is largely to do with their programming, despite the increase in channels, being less diverse than it once was.
Don’t know if I’m getting older but for some time now most of the shows I watch on FTA are on SBS and ABC, some news on the others but very few scripted shows. More on Foxtel but a lot though other means like catch up TV and YouTube. Most of the live stuff I watch now is news or sport on FTA and more often Foxtel.
Let me get this right… TV viewing is down 13% over the past 4 years. During the same time Australia’s population rose 6.1% (source: World Bank & ABS). And OzTAM and FTA execs still find positives to rave about? PR101 alive and well.
It’s down on the in home set, it’s up on other screens. Live TV is down, Timeshifted is up.
Years ago the majority of what we were recording and watching was free to air – to the point that some nights 3 or 4 shows would be recording at once (2 PVRs). Now there are nights where nothing comes from free to air other than the news which on some nights we only watch 20-30 minutes of. Masterchef is sometimes left on in the background, we don’t watch the Voice, House Rules, Kiss Bang whatever, what else is on?
Overall we watch about the same amount of TV – its just that significantly less of it is from free to air, about the same from Foxtel (which is increasingly becoming of less value as well) and much more from online.
Now all NRL games are on Foxtel, Nine doesn’t even get looked at for NRL (and with AFL been like that for years – but then again living in Sydney following Kangaroos means you rarely see a Roos game on FTA unless their playing GWS or Swans! so have to watch…
I must admit my live tv viewing is down because I don’t like the reality shows and anything good is on late or disappears for a while and comes back again on even later on a another night. There are some nights where there isn’t anything on that I want to watch that is being offered to viewers so I seek alternative options in pre recorded shows and catch up services and streaming platforms to fill my weeknight nights.
Of topic a bit but does lend to new trends on the stats above but why does it take for ever to slap a coat of paint to reveal a room, serve a meal to some judges or decide who sung it best. if its the youth market networks are after make those shows viewable online or via apps that way they can go one about how hard it was to select a door knob, boil spaghetti or here about peoples back stories before you know if they can sing and contribute to a slowly dying…
Similar story here. I’m currently only watching about 13 hours a week of broadcast FTA and half of that is news/current affairs that is on in the background and I’m not really watching anyway. We upped our internet quota last year because of the massive increase in online viewing.
I love that I can watch three 42 minute US dramas in the same time as one of the commercial networks takes to drag out a boring competition show to become even more boring.
As I always say the minority in this country controls what the majority watches,maybe they live in outer space like Bazza says never meet one
>> the minority in this country controls what the majority watches
Funny, the remote control belongs to me. I decide what I watch.
You’re single, aren’t you? 😉
If the people in the survey says they prefer watching reality programs what do you think your remote is going to find?
>> what do you think your remote is going to find?
Happily it hasn’t found any reality programs yet; and not expecting any either.
“…says never meet one”
Well, as you say, they are a minority and small enough that it would be unlikely that you would 1) meet one and 2) that they would tell you that they had a ratings box. So, it’s possible that you have met one (or even a whole household).
Anyway, if the sampling is done properly, then the numbers for the top-rating FTA shows are pretty solid.
That’s a lot of data to extrapolate from a ridiculously small sample. I’ve still yet to meet one single person who has been polled.
“Those who don’t understand statistics are doomed to dismiss them”.
The quality of the food you eat and water you drink relies on much smaller sample sizes than TV ratings do. Which do you trust more?
Indeed.
The in-home television component comprise 5,600 homes, and in excess of 13,000 people, that collectively represent the characteristics of the overall population.
The VPM component is a census.
The Hybrid Streaming data comes from the Nielsen Online Ratings Panel.
The Australian Connected Consumers Report is self-reported data of roughly 5,000 people.
That’s more comprehensive that any opinion poll you’ll see between here and 2 July.
Which is why those opinion polls flop around like a fish out of water. Properly run small sample sizes are fine. When was the last time anyone here heard of a baseline sample being taken to ensure that the people supposedly representative of general viewing habits, actually are.
For years the broadcasters have been telling us all is fine. For data to finally be released that says all is not fine is telling. Do we trust these figures to be telling the ‘whole truth and nothing but the truth’. Not a chance. Give us that baseline study and a bit of credibility might be earned.
Cue the crickets!
Your mistake was probably believing the broadcasters when they said “all is fine”.
For anyone who’s been following the raw numbers – not just the %’s – or even just reading the annual OzTAM summaries (not the summary reports of the summaries), the trend has been evident for years.
The “baseline study” you’re wishing for “to ensure that the people supposedly representative of general viewing habits, actually are” already exists, runs pretty much continuously thoughout the year, & is part of their sample household recruitment process…
@ Bazza……..I was polled…many years ago…when we had to fill in a book….
I was promised a gift…and I got one…a small 500ml bright yellow plastic jug…*G*