YouTube Trumps Boob Tube
By Tom Ryan
America is spending a lot less time in front of the TV as consumers increasingly surf the web and use mobile devices, according to a new survey from IBM.
Of those surveyed, 19 percent reported spending six or more hours per day on the internet, compared to just nine percent who said they spend the same amount of time watching television. Sixty percent said they spent one- to four-hours online per day, compared to about 66 percent who said they spend the same amount of time in front of the TV.
IBM says the internet’s emergence as a primary source of home entertainment is having a big impact on the advertising industry.
“Media and entertainment industry players will have to become much better at providing permission-based advertising and related consumer-driven ratings services,” said Bill Battino, a managing partner in IBM’s Global Business Services unit, in a statement.
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| Photo courtesy of IBM |
In the U.S., the largest digital video recorder market, 24 percent of respondents reported owning a digital video recorder in their home and watching at least half their television programming on the DVR instead of live. It said 33 percent reported watching more television now than before they bought the DVR.
On a worldwide basis, 67 percent of respondents indicated that they have watched or want to watch videos on their PC, and an average of 35 percent indicated they’ve watched or want to watch mobile video.
IBM said consumers are increasingly turning to online destinations like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, games, or mobile entertainment versus traditional television.
“That doesn’t mean TV content is no longer relevant, but it is the end of TV as we know it,” Saul Berman, leader of I.B.M.’s Media & Entertainment Strategy and Change practice, told The New York Times. “You will still watch TV, but it may not be associated with an old fashioned TV set, just in the same way you listen to music now more than ever, but not on your phonograph.”
The online questionnaire conducted from mid-April through mid-June generated 885 respondents in the U.S., 559 in the U.K., 338 in Germany, 263 in Australia and 378 in Japan. About 45 percent surveyed were between the ages of 18-34, 25 percent between 35-44, and 30 percent 45 and over. The survey split 64 percent/36 percent female/male.
Discussion Questions: What do you make of Saul Berman’s assessment that we’re seeing the “the end of TV as we know it” with the growing popularity of the internet and wireless devices? What does this mean for manufacturer and retailer advertising campaigns?
TV will have to migrate toward higher quality and higher cost entertainment. Gone or going are the days when you can have one hit carry a whole night, as slothful viewers are too lazy to get off the couch and do something else. We’ll record the shows we really like each week and watch them for bouts of TV viewing when we feel like it, interspersed with other activities, including ‘net time.
Television still excels at immersive entertainment, and while production companies may experiment with online distribution, it’s just not practical yet to distribute a high-quality, high-definition weekly show that way, and the vast majority of homes are not set up to watch them in an ideal, large screen experience. When that happens, well, what’s the difference between internet and TV then anyway?
As my 18 year old son just said to me, “YouTube is the bomb.” And he’s right, one visit will change your perception of entertainment forever. However, that doesn’t mean TV’s going to go away any time soon, especially since clever producers and writers keep coming up with the most inane, cruel concepts for us to be appalled at. People love to watch people acting like, well, people, which applies to both mediums and is the core reason they’ll continue to work side by side.
The transition away from TV in terms of consumer interest and ad spend will be a slow death spiral, very much like that of department stores. So, don’t jump too hard too quick…the watercooler’s still abuzz with ridiculously absurd facts about the latest reality show.
If you look at the Research from Pew Research Center you’ll find there is nothing new in this survey. The only new finding for most Americans might be that the change in consumer behavior is a worldwide trend.
What may be more important is not only the effect that computers and the internet are having on TV and TV advertising but also that the implications are much broader and effect every method of communication–newspapers, magazines, telephone, TV, radio–all of the ways we interact with each other.
Have to agree with David on this one: duh.
I guess the article is really just putting the new stats out there. Ok, fair enough. I would like to see something like a study that shows the impact of technology on obesity…that would be interesting.
Consumers still spend half their leisure time watching television. Advertising is not dead but it is undergoing a transformation. Instead of a bothersome, intrusive annoyance, successful advertising in the future will be welcomed or requested communication, a convenient way for potential consumers to access information from producers of goods and providers of services. This is sometimes called “permission advertising.”
Consumers will even volunteer to watch commercials if there’s something in it for them. They do so via TiVo and through Comcast Cable, where subscribers can volunteer to view long-form ads to learn more about products from companies like GM, Reebok and Wachovia. (The advertiser then pays for a pay-for-view movie). The numbers are impressive.
But perhaps the most promising future for advertising is IPTV (Internet Protocol television). IPTV has the potential to direct advertisers to best prospects, and to direct interested viewers to the ads they actually want to watch. IPTV is a point-to-point service, meaning every home–even every TV within a home–could potentially receive a different ad. Many companies would be willing to pay 10 or 12 times what they spend now to reach each consumer if assured they were reaching their intended audience.
Early versions of IPTV are in a handful of homes in the US. All TV service providers–cable companies, satellite companies and telephone companies–have plans to offer the service.
More and more, broadcast TV has become the medium to reach the poor. The middle class pays for cable TV. TV ads are changing because when using DVRs, people don’t have to suffer through insulting or boring repetition. The higher-income folks are willing to pay for ad-free premium channels. Same trend with web sites: there’s an audience that has the money to pay for content and doesn’t want to be bothered by intrusive advertising. Media don’t disappear, but new media forces the old media to reposition. TV didn’t eliminate radio or the movies or newspapers or magazines. But they all changed when TV got popular. And the internet is blending with TV anyway, since broadband’s popularity has grown so much. What’s the difference between cable on demand and long-length YouTube?
The only revelation that would surprise me is that anyone still remaining on the planet could possibly be surprised by the revelation itself that the internet and wireless hand-held’s are taking attention away from TV. Are you kidding me? When did THAT happen!?
Consider that most folks today are using the computer not only at home but all day long at work, as well. The internet, wireless phones, text messaging, etc. are truly the first real 24-7 medium. Advertisers and marketers can catch almost everybody in a weak moment any day, every day, all day and night long. But TV won’t completely go away, and if you are paying close attention, you will see that advertisers have changed the way they do TV advertising to fit more with the current technology, consumer habits, and today’s routines. Much like radio did when TV came into the forefront in the 1950s, TV will continue to re-invent itself, and so will advertising, accordingly.