‘Broadcast TV still most popular’

Friday 02 Sep 2011
People are spending slightly less time watching scheduled broadcast TV, but it is still the most popular format, according to a report by Ericsson ConsumerLab, MarketWatch reports.

The report which measures consumer trends across 13 markets, found a slight decrease in broadcast television viewing with 84% watching twice a week or more, compared to 88% in the 2010 survey.

Data was collected in Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the UK, the US and South Korea.

Anders Erlandsson, Senior Advisor at Ericsson ConsumerLab, says: “On-demand viewing is increasingly popular, while broadcast viewing has remained the most common way for people to watch TV. We just watch TV in many more ways than we did before”.

The study also shows that social media usage has impacted the way we watch TV. More than 40 percent of the respondents reported using social media on various devices such as smartphones and tablets while watching TV as the communication adds another dimension to the TV experience.

In terms of what consumers want most from their TVs, good quality remains the top factor and is more important than, for example, the availability of 3D TV and access to applications. The service consumers are most willing to pay for is getting movies that still run at the movie theaters, directly to the TV.