Internet to Overtake Traditional TV in 2010

LONDON: A new Microsoft report, Europe Logs On: Internet Trends of Today & Tomorrow, predicts that the Internet will overtake traditional TV as the most-consumed form of media in the region in June 2010, averaging 14.2 hours per week, versus 11.5 hours per week spent on TV.

The report adds, however, that the numbers don’t reflect a decline a TV viewing—rather, the research demonstrates the shift in media consumption habits. The computer will become increasingly important as a screen for watching TV; Microsoft states that one in seven 18-to-24 year olds watch no live TV at all, and 42 percent of young adults regularly watch TV online, through a PC.

"Rather than shrinking, television will only grow in importance," said Jeffrey Cole, the director of the Centre for Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication. "TV no longer refers to the big screen in the home but to audio and visual content that will be watched everywhere. It will become our constant companion as it escapes from the home for the first time via the mobile phone and netbook PC. That said, the big screen at home will continue to play an important role. We will save our favourite content for the big screen in the home for cinema like experiences. The gap between the home and theatre has never been so narrow.”

John Mangelaars, the VP at Microsoft for consumer and online in EMEA, added: “The three screens—TV, mobile and PC—will remain the most important media and technology in our lives. While today the experience is fragmented across multiple media devices and environments—from the living room television to the bedroom PC to the portable music player and mobile phone—in future, software from Microsoft and others will enable connected, integrated entertainment experiences."

This three-screen shift is being driven by increasing broadband penetration. Microsoft reports that more than 300 million people worldwide are now watching video online, more than the number listening to audio. "Broadband has changed everything," Cole continued. "And it’s not speed of access that has made the biggest impact, it’s having a direct connection that is always on. This has changed the Internet experience dramatically. It’s no longer a disruptive experience where people have their PC in the backroom of the house and where they use a dial-up connection a couple times a day to do some specific tasks. Now, the PC has moved to centre stage in the kitchen or living room where it does not interfere in the family conversation or TV viewing but is integrated into everything we do.”

The report notes that 48.5 percent of Europeans now have an Internet connection and people spent almost 9 hours per week using the web in 2008, up by 27 percent from 2004. This is more time than they spent reading print media, watching movies offline or playing video games. Markets in northern Europe are showing a much faster adoption rate of PC usage and the Internet. The Nordic countries have an Internet penetration rate of 76 percent on average, compared to 45 percent in southern Europe.