More Screens. More Options to View

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Australian homes have more screens, channel and platform choices than ever before. These choices deliver greater opportunities to watch television and other video, and together affect the time consumers spend with various devices.

These are the findings from the Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen Q3 (July-September) 2016 Australian Multi-Screen Report, which show people continue to spread their viewing across seemingly infinite options within a finite number of available hours each day.

Other trends from the report include:

‘Traditional’ television viewing remains dominant
20.19 million Australians, or 86% of the population in people metered markets, watch at least some broadcast TV (free-to-air and subscription channels) on in-home sets weekly.

Connected screens in the home continues to rise, while the number of TVs has fallen slightly
The average Australian home now has 4.5 connected screens in addition to their TV sets, up from 3.9 four years ago. The number of TV sets per home is fractionally lower today at 1.8.

The way Australians use their TV sets is changing, most noticeably in prime time
The TV screen can also be used for many activities in addition to watching TV, therefore the proportion of time people spend using their TV sets for other purposes is growing.

‘Longer tail’ viewing is growing
While the majority of TV material played back through the TV set happens within the first seven days, 1.7% of all broadcast TV watched on in-home sets in any four-week period is time-shifted between eight and 28 days later. In prime time the proportion of 8-28 day playback is 1.6%.

Regional TAM Chairman and General Manager, Prime Television, Tony Hogarth said: “The Australian Multi-Screen Report once again provides a comprehensive national overview of Australians’ viewing habits. Analysing television viewing based on ‘when watched’ data has allowed for this viewing to be accounted for at the time of day the TV content is being consumed as opposed to the time of broadcast. In regional Australia, looking at when watched viewing, audiences consumed an average of 103 hours and 45 minutes of broadcast television each month, which is just over 8 hours more than the national average.”

Nielsen Managing Director, Media, Craig Johnson said: “Today, consumers have more control than ever before and, are without a doubt leveraging that autonomy. The growing penetration of connected devices and increasing popularity of subscription-based streaming services, time-shifted and over-the-top viewing is fundamentally changing the TV industry. The ability to measure and report on all content across all devices – such as expanding the “long tail” out to 28 days – provides the industry with further, critical insights on how viewers are using technology to control their own viewing experiences.”

OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer said: “The number of connected screens in Australian homes is at an all-time high, and Australians are taking advantage of the opportunities this creates to watch broadcast content and other video. While this choice contributes to the viewing ‘spread’ we’ve observed for some time, all age groups still spend more of their viewing time on any single device watching broadcast TV on in-home TV sets. Across the population that equates to more than 86 per cent of total viewing – including all devices, platforms and video content.”

Download the full report here

ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN MULTI-SCREEN REPORT

The Australian Multi-Screen Report, released quarterly, is the first and only national research into trends in video viewing in Australian homes across television, computers and mobile devices. It combines data from the three best available research sources: the OzTAM and Regional TAM television ratings panels; Nielsen Online Ratings and Nielsen’s Australian Connected Consumers report; and OzTAM’s Video Player Measurement (VPM) Report.

More Screens. More Options to View

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