Many consumers aren’t watching TV on TV sets anymore – well, at least teens and young twenty-somethings aren’t.
The proliferation of smartphones, tablets and computers has put TV sets to the test. Now, according to Dawn Chmielewski, of Recode, studies show that the TV screen may be falling out of favor for some:
“A new study from Deloitte finds that teens and young twentysomethings spend more time watching movies and television shows on their computers, smartphones and tablets than they do on their TV screens.
“The idea that TV is only watched on a TV isn’t true anymore,” said Gerald Belson, vice chairman of the firm’s U.S. media and entertainment practice.
Deloitte surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. consumers about their media consumption habits and technology use as part of its annual Digital Democracy Survey (PDF).
Although viewing habits have been changing as the number of screens in the typical home multiply, this marks the first time these devices have eclipsed TV for any segment of the population, Belson said.
“It’s an indicator of how the market is reacting to the introduction of technologies,” Belson said. “Clearly, a large segment of the population is quite comfortable using any number of devices to watch content. The speed with which it’s happening takes some people by surprise.”
The TV is still king of the castle in most American homes, with Generation X, Baby Boomers and mature viewers saying they spent the majority of their time watching movies and TV shows on the more familiar living room screen. Even older millennials, those aged 25 to 30, say they tune in to the TV more than half of the time.
“The fact that we have some demographics watching television, but not on TV, is significant,” Belson said.
This shift has profound implications for networks, and Nielsen, which are working to find ways to measure TV viewing across multiple screens. Nielsen announced plans to begin incorporating mobile into its traditional ratings with the 2014-15 season.
For media and entertainment companies, the shift puts added pressure on having a quality experience across devices. And that is much easier said than done, especially for entertainment brands. Ensuring a quality experience via television is simple – compared to knowing how your video content loads across devices, in different locations and under real world scenarios. Luckily, in-the-wild testing your video content will help root our these problems before users stumble upon them.
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