Report: TV remains France’s most common screen
May 12, 2020
France’s TV regulator the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) and its partners within the Observatory of audiovisual equipment for households in mainland France have revealed its latest findings for television and radio, two media which it says are of major importance during the health crisis.
According to the CSA, trends observed in recent years are confirmed. With a penetration rate of 92.5 per cent of households at the end of 2019, a very slight decrease, the TV set remains the most common screen in households. Consumers are also significantly using alternative screens, allowing a certain flexibility in access to content: first the computer (85.5 per cent of households), then the smartphone (75.4 per cent of 11 years and over) and finally the tablet (48.3 per cent of households).
As with alternative screens, the television can also be connected: in the second half of 2019, 79.1 per cent of households have a television connected to the Internet, directly as a Smart TV (36 per cent of households equipped with a connected television) or indirectly by the TV decoder of the internet service provider (ISP) (80 per cent), game console (35 per cent) or an OTT box (24 per cent).
Connected TV usage shows continued growth. Catch-up TV is the dominant connected use via the ISP TV decoder (89 per cent of households that use their ISP decoder to watch OTT content). Video on demand and video games see usage via other connection modes. Households equipped with a connected game console and a third-party box are those that use the features offered by their equipment the most.
Showing marked growth over several years, IPTV remains the primary mode of reception for devices overall, while showing a slight decline in the second half of 2019. IPTV represents 58.4 per cent of households equipped with at least one television.
The DTT platform remains undoubtedly essential; it is used by 54 per cent of households equipped with television(s) and represents the only mode of reception for some 22 per cent of households equipped with television(s); being free nature and simple also make it the preferred mode of reception for secondary devices.
The modernisation of the DTT platform (UHD and interactive services via HbbTV, constantly increasing in homes), undertaken under the aegis of the CSA, will consolidate its central place within homes, as evidenced by the slight rebound in the number of homes receiving DTT television at the end of 2019.
Finally, radio is an important topic for the CSA which in 2018 and 2019 launched several calls for applications for DAB + and the Ma Radio DAB + service to promote the offer of radio availability in DAB + ( in addition to Ma Radio FM). The Observatory is a valuable source of information for monitoring the development of equipment for listening to the radio and measuring the potential of the services available in DAB +.