In Broadcast - January 2016 - 61


61

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 6 - Issue 1 | January 2016

InUSA

Video Viewing Continues
Radical Paradigm Shift
Michael Grotticelli examines the shift in viewing patterns towards handheld screens
and the knock-on effect on lacklustre UHD TV uptake...

S

ales of Ultra High-Definition
(UHD) sets - often referred to as
"4K TVs", although the resolution is
not quite 4,096 by 2,160 lines - have
been moving along at a slow pace, as
consumers seem reluctant to replace
their HDTVs with new UHD sets.
The value proposition that existed
when migrating from standarddefinition to HD is not the same
with UHD. Sure there's more lines of
resolution, but can the average Joe
actually notice the difference?
Supporting this, market research
firm Parks Associates released a report
recently that stated that a mere 8%
of U.S. broadband households were
predicted to buy a UHD (4K) TV in 2015
(with Samsung predicted to gain the
lion's share of those new sales).
The Market for 4K TVs report also
states that 19% of U.S. broadband
households intend to purchase a
flat-panel TV set by the end of 2015.
Roughly 40% of those households
are looking for a 4K TV set, which is
approximately 7.5% of U.S. broadband
households. (Interestingly, 42% of U.S.
broadband households in the Parks
study indicate they are not familiar
with 4K technology.) In fact, Parks
Associates reports "low familiarity,
low willingness to pay premium prices,
content concerns, and a cooling
market for flat panels in general" - all

present challenges to 4K.
"More consumers value other
attributes, including smart TV
capability, built-in Wi-Fi, and highresolution audio, over 4K picture
quality - 56% of U.S. broadband
households planning to buy a flat
panel in the next 12 months consider
smart capabilities to be important,
versus 39% who value 4K picture
quality," said Barbara Kraus, Director,
Research, Parks Associates Kraus.
"Content availability remains a key
inhibitor to 4K adoption. We expect
to see lower cost 4K TV technologies
presented at CES 2016 [in January
in Las Vegas], along with 4K Blu-ray
players and media, as well as OLED
and high dynamic range, to drive new
growth in this market."
Other market studies, however,
show that more consumers seem
enthralled with watching video on their
portable devices (computer, tablet,
smartphone), as, according to ratings
data from companies such as Nielsen,
the use of these Internet-ready devices
appears to have seriously cut into
the time Americans spend watching
traditional TV.
The new Nielsen data - included in
the company's Comparable Metrics
report - suggests that the living room
television has become the "second
screen" in our lives. The report, which

Consumers are
increasingly using an
Internet-connected
device to support their
TV viewing habits

for the first time presents data on
average use per minute, makes it
possible to directly compare various
devices.
Nielsen says that with the significant
increase in the number of 18 to
34-year-olds who used a smartphone,
tablet or TV-connected device like a
streaming box or game console in the
past year in undermining traditional
viewing. That time spent away from
the big screen TV grew 26% in May
compared with a year earlier, to an
average of 8.5 million people per
minute.
The main takeaway: Portable
devices, which all showed gains in
usage, more than offset declines
in TV, radio and computers. For
broadcasters, that means the eyeballs
have not gone away, they have quickly
shifted focus. However, it's important
to note that in the same age group
(18 to 34-year-olds), the demographic
most highly coveted by advertisers,
use of those devices fell 8% over
the same period to a combined 16.6
million people per minute.
And yet, as we all know, sometimes
people are using smartphones while
watching TV, or using them outside the
home, where it does not technically cut
into TV viewing time.
Citing past and present data, Nielsen
says that viewing of a traditional TV -
through a cable or satellite connection

or an antenna - peaked in the 20092010 season. In fact, the audience for
TV viewing alone fell by 10%, to 8.4
million people a minute, in the 18 to
34-year-old category.
Since Nielsen began tracking TV
viewing in 1949, average daily TV
viewing has grown steadily, from 4
hours and 35 minutes a day to a peak
of 8 hours and 55 minutes in 20092010. That increase coincided with
growing numbers of TV sets sold and
the proliferation of programming on
cable channels. But viewership has
been declining ever since. Nielsen says
that from late September until midNovember of 2015, daily TV watching
accounted for only 8 hours and 13
minutes.
What this all means for broadcasters
is that the change in viewing habits
continues unabated and there's no
stopping this moving train. We all know
the shift is on. Content distributors
of all types should recognise this and
deliver their video accordingly - if
they want to retain viewers. 4K (or
UHD) is not the quick fix the consumer
electronics industry was hoping for,
but sales of traditional sets, due to low
process and an increasing lack of HDTV
availability, will continue to increase.
At the same time, smartphone viewing
is not decreasing and needs to be
taken seriously, as the "first screen"
consumers turn to in their daily lives.

The Market for 4K TVs report assesses consumer interest in 4K,
the content availability adoption barrier, and how much of a price premium
consumers are willing to pay to get a 4K TV instead of an HD TV
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.parksassociates.com/marketfocus/market-4k-tv http://www.parksassociates.com/marketfocus/market-4k-tv
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