Over 40% watch broadband/mobile TV monthly
February 26, 2010
Data from Horowitz Associates’ annual US Broadband Content and Services (BCS) survey of 800 Internet users reveal that 44 per cent watch actual, not user generated, TV content at least once monthly, including viewing online and on handheld devices.
Portending future growth of viewing on alternative platforms, incidence of TV consumption on the computer/ handheld devices is already ubiquitous among young people, with 82 per cent of 15-17 year olds surveyed viewing at least monthly. On handheld devices alone, half (48 per cent) of online young people surveyed report watching TV content at least monthly, doubling from 24 per cent last year.
Consumption of TV content on alternative platforms varies by genre, with news topping the chart among adult Internet users, and music videos topping the chart among 15-17 year olds. Sports, kids’ content, and movies are the genres least likely to be viewed on a platform other than traditional TV.
While incidence and sampling of alternative TV platforms has apparently reached mass market proportions, the actual percent of TV content consumed on alternative platforms remains small. According to the Horowitz study, of all the hours Internet users say they spend watching TV programmes, about 4 per cent of TV time is on a platform other than a TV set — 2 per cent on a PC/laptop and 2 per cent on a handheld — with the vast majority (96 per cent) still consumed via the traditional television platform