U.S. & U.K. Broadcast Viewing Declines, VOD Gains

LONDON: IHS analysis has found that broadcast television viewing dropped significantly last year in the U.S. and the U.K., with viewers increasingly turning to on-demand services instead.

IHS believes that these changes in consumption habits "signal a need for transformation in broadcaster and pay-TV operator strategies," as the competition for viewership increases.

In 2013, linear viewing fell well below historical figures for the first time. The U.S. and U.K. saw average daily viewing time of broadcast content fall by 7 minutes and 11 minutes, respectively, year on year. This comes after a number of consecutive years of decline in linear TV viewing in both markets.

Non-traditional TV viewing now accounts for nearly 1 in 5 TV minutes. Individuals in the U.S. spent 52 minutes each day watching DVR or on-demand TV content; in the U.K., it was around 49 minutes. DVR time-shifted viewing accounts for the largest proportion of non-traditional viewing.

The growth of Netflix has contributed to the tripling of online video viewing in the U.S. Online long-form video consumption saw a threefold increase in the U.S. over two years. The average individual is now spending 9 minutes per day watching TV content on devices other than the TV.

SVOD is also eating into broadcast TV time. Online long-form viewing increased by 6 minutes per day between 2011 and 2013, and yet viewing on the TV set, both linear and non-linear, fell by 7 minutes each day. IHS forecasts that by the end of this year, individuals will be spending more time watching on-demand content on connected devices than on pay-TV VOD services in the U.S.

IHS also predicts that DVR usage is approaching its peak. Recorded minutes declined on a per-DVR-home basis in the U.K. and stabilized in the U.S. in 2013. Consumers are now relying on other catch-up and on-demand services for time-shifted viewing. This is occurring even with the huge growth in DVR ownership in the U.K. in the past year.