TV Screen Still Rules: CTAM
by Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 7/7/2008
Video consumers now view an estimated 24% of their content on computers, according to a behavioral study released June 30 by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, but the television set is still the king of viewing destinations.
Ninety-eight percent of consumers said they had watched their television when they were asked by pollsters what technology they’d used for viewing in the preceding week, according to the fourth cycle of CTAM’s ongoing research study tracking the evolving use of television and its content. The study, CTAM — Tracking the Evolving Use of Television and Its Content, Wave 4 Trend Results and Analysis, was conducted in concert with Nielsen Entertainment Television.
In those same homes, 45% of the 1,200 adults and 300 teens in the study also said they had viewed DVDs the preceding week.
Use of digital video recorders was reported by 24% of respondents; 14% watched on their desktop computers; 9% used laptops; 6% watched something on their cellphones; and 5% consumed content on an MP3 player or game system.
Drilling deeper, researchers found that in DVR homes, the most viewing is scheduled on that device. In those homes, 37% of viewing is via DVR with only 35% watching shows as they’re aired. Eleven percent of video consumed in those homes was from video on demand and 17% of shows were viewed on the computer.
The study was conducted among cable and satellite subscribers; homes which viewed only off-air television were excluded.
There was good news for video providers in the VOD market. Survey respondents said that, during the last two years, their use of paid VOD is up 10%. But free VOD is definitely more popular and getting adopted more quickly. Two years ago, 49% of respondents in homes with access to VOD said they watched free content; now, that usage rate is 71%.
Respondents said they watch 6.52 free programs a month, compared to 3.57 shows a month in 2005. Pay VOD consumption has remained almost constant at 2.59 movies a month in 2005 and 2.71 movies per month at present, according to the research.
