Survey: Consumers Still Loyal to Favorite TV Programs

NEW YORK, April 15: According to results from Accenture’s
inaugural Global Broadcast Consumer Survey, while 83 percent of consumers
worldwide expressed discontent with watching live broadcast or cable TV, 33
percent are still watching eight or more programs per week, including 41
percent of American viewers and 39 percent of British consumers.

The Accenture survey analyzed how people in multiple global
markets consume and respond to broadcast content, and how they are adapting to
the new content-delivery methods. The survey also found that although
television remains the predominant mass-communications device worldwide, with
97 percent of respondents watching TV in a typical week, consumption patterns
vary based on a number of factors including geography, age and socio-economic
status. While some 70 percent of consumers worldwide watch four or more
television programs a week, 71 percent of them watch programs on four or more
television channels. Accenture notes that this “channel-hopping” demonstrates
that consumers are more loyal to the content they want to watch rather than the
branded distribution channel to which they may be accustomed. This provides an
opportunity for content creators, studios and networks to begin delivering
content to consumers on multiple channels and through multiple devices creating
new ways to interact with consumers and entirely new revenue streams. Accenture
warns that the change in the behavior of consumers poses a significant threat
to television networks unless they understand how to deliver content directly
to consumers through new digital channels.

In terms of alternatives to traditional television, 46
percent of 18- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. view content via mobile devices, but
there is less interest among those 55 and older, with only 19 percent in this
demo doing so.

According to the survey, consumers have already developed
some ideas about what type of content fits best on which alternative device.
Twenty-seven percent would enjoy watching full TV episodes on their PCs, while
the same percentage would like to receive public-service info; 26 percent want
to watch new content not normally on TV; and 25 percent are interested in
content they themselves create. Only 16 percent would like to receive program
highlights or shortened versions of TV episodes.

The survey also found that there is a large number of
programs watched on alternative devices in a typical week. One in three adults
in eight countries surveyed access programs via an alternative device in a
typical week, with Italy (41 percent), France (36 percent) and Spain (35
percent) topping the list, while Brazil is the lowest with 17 percent. Six out
of ten adults said they would enjoy watching some content via their PCs.

Additionally, consumers are beginning to discern the genres
they prefer to watch live or on demand. Forty-six percent of consumer prefer to
watch sports and news live, while 23 percent of consumers prefer to watch
dramas and situation comedies on demand. TV commercials are what the survey’s
respondents disliked most about live TV, ranking as the top complaint (64
percent), followed by not being able to ‘rewind’ (40 percent) and not being
able to watch programs at the viewer’s convenience (38 percent).

David Wolf, a senior executive with Accenture’s media and
entertainment practice, commented: “People are experiencing new consumption
opportunities and moving away from traditional, linear programming. And age has
become the leading indicator of these new behavioral preferences with consumers
under 35 years old clearly the best indicator of these impending changes and
future broadcast consumption patterns. Today’s youth are more dissatisfied with
the traditional television experience and increasingly excited by the
availability of new choices.”

—By Irene Lew