Traditional TV Remains Dominant in Oz Despite Increasing Fragmentation

SYDNEY: The latest Australian Multi-Screen Report finds that even with the households in Oz embracing more screens and devices, broadcast TV content watched on in-home TV sets still comprises 86.5 percent of viewing.

The Q3 2016 report—from Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen—reveals that 20.19 million Australians, or 86 percent of the population in people metered markets, watch at least some broadcast TV (free-to-air and subscription channels) on in-home sets weekly.

The number of connected screens in households continues to rise while the number of TV sets 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 slightly lower today, at 1.8 (compared to 1.9 reported for the past few years).

The report also reveals that the way Australians use their TV sets is changing, most noticeably in prime time. The rise in other TV screen use is particularly evident in peak viewing hours, and it is impacting time spent viewing live and playback TV. While the majority of TV material played back through the TV set happens within the first seven days, 1.7 percent 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 to 28 day playback is 1.6 percent.

Regional TAM’s chairman and general manager for Prime Television, Tony Hogarth, said: “The Australian Multi-Screen Report once again provides a comprehensive national overview of Australians’ viewing habits. Analyzing 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.”

Craig Johnson, the managing director of media for the Asia Pacific at Nielsen, added: “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’s 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.”