The new television season is upon us and (apparently) there’s never been a better time to camp out in front of the telly and prepare to be dazzled, stunned, blown away or simply have your life transformed.
The reality may be a little more prosaic. But what’s especially new, different and paradigm-shifting about this new season is the sheer volume of TV shows that are available for Catch Up Television on local broadcaster websites.
Most TVNZ local and imported shows are available on Replay TV, along with a substantial number of TVWorks offerings. Aotearoa is finally doing its own catch up with the rest of the world. A couple of global statistics to illustrate the point:
- As long ago as March 2009, French studies were indicating that 52% of the Internet-users questioned said they were watching free TV programs on the Internet after their broadcast.
- The Dutch Public Broadcaster said that catch-up TV service Uitzending Gemist grew 25 percent in 2009 compared to the year before.
WHY DO PEOPLE WATCH TV SHOWS ONLINE ANYWAY?
A Nielsen Company analysis in January 2009 identified the following reasons why consumers watch Replay TV:
- 54% I forgot to watch a specific episode when it aired on TV
- 47% I am catching up on the current season of programming because I missed a large number of episodes
- 33% I am catching up on a past season of a program before the next season airs
- 32% I forgot to record a specific episode with my DVR or TiVo when it aired on TV
- 18% Another member of my household watches another program at the same time as the show I want to watch
- 12% I watch TV programming online when I am at work
- 12% I watch TV programming online when I travel
This explosion of viewing options is good news for Kiwi viewers, but an increasing headache for television buyers trying to capture the eyeballs of programme-watchers.
And let’s not even talk about the plight of our colleagues at Nielsen, trying to collate the disparate outputs of analogue television, Freeview, TiVo, Sky, MySky, MySky HDi, Telstra Cable (and now the internet) into a composite statistic that somehow catches the reality of what’s happening out there.
Plans are afoot to expand and enlarge the television research resources, but it won’t happen overnight. For now, let’s just be grateful for one positive side-effect of the recession: increased viewing figures.
Related posts:
TV starts playing catch-up :: StopPress :: Breaking news from New Zealand Marketing magazine // Feb 9, 2010 at 11:06 am
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