Me-TV: Thinkbox report reveals online TV services are benefiting broadcasters
- Report finds that online TV services complement and reinforce broadcast viewing
- Good news for advertisers as viewers welcome advertising around online TV content
London, 28 January 2009: Thinkbox today announced findings from an in-depth study into the rapidly expanding area of online TV.
The new report, commissioned from Work Research by Thinkbox and unveiled at an event in London today, offers advertisers proper insight into how online TV is developing. Key findings include:
- Online TV viewing is currently incremental to linear broadcast TV viewing, not a substitute
- Viewing to online TV services is growing rapidly across a range of devices and viewing contexts
- Catching-up with broadcast schedules is the main reason to watch online on-demand TV (78%)
- Online on-demand TV is reinforcing loyalty to broadcast TV viewing
- UK broadcasters’ online TV services are benefitting most from growth
- Advertising around professionally produced online TV content is both accepted and expected by online TV viewers
- TV’s expansion online is introducing the internet to previously reluctant consumers, because of the trust, familiarity and appeal of professional TV content.
Rapid growth
Two thirds of the sample (64%) had watched TV or video content on a computer and the recency of viewing is rapidly increasing. In four months the number of broadband internet users accessing TV content ‘in the last week’ grew from 33% to 44% and they are accessing the content on a more regular basis, across more devices and increasingly out of home.
Who is watching?
The typical online TV viewer is 22% more likely to be 16-24 and 5% more likely to work full-time. There was no obvious skew towards either sex. 58% of those who watched TV online were also heavy internet users, using the net at least once a day at home. Analysis of the IPA’s Touchpoints 2 data also shows that regular users of online TV services tend to be heavier internet users than average broadcast TV viewers.
The main reasons for not using online TV services are preferring to watch TV on a regular TV screen (68%) and the shared experience of linear broadcast viewing (23%).
Broadcast benefit
A key finding of the research is that online TV viewing is – at least currently is - in addition to broadcast TV viewing, not cannibalising it. This is underlined by figures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board showing consistent growth for broadcast viewing. Recently released figures for 2008 show that broadcast TV viewing increased by 48 minutes a week compared with 2007, matching the previous record viewing figure of 26.3 hours per week in 2003.
Online TV growth is mainly benefitting services launched by established broadcasters. More people in the UK now use broadcasters’ online services – including ITV Player, 4OD, Demand Five, MTV.co.uk, and Skyplayer. BBC iPlayer’s reach is now higher than that for YouTube and use of non-broadcaster owned TV services is very limited in comparison. Only 2-3% of the sample has accessed non-broadcaster sites such as videojug.com and Peekvid.com before.
Ads accepted
Central to the research was the discovery that online TV viewers not only accept advertising around TV content, they expect it.
Thinkbox examined six different types of online ad formats around TV content: pre-/post-roll, sponsorship, live buy, digital insert, in-skin and choose your ad. They found that the TV-like ad formats – pre-/post-roll and sponsorship – were by far the most memorable for viewers. 53% of the sample recalled seeing sponsorship advertising and 34% recalled pre-/post-roll. This compares with lower recall for in-skin (14%), digital insert (11%), choose your ad (9%) and live buy (5%). The study also found that the potential impact of different ad formats will depend on mood, context and content being viewed.
Catch-up dominates
By far the main reason people watch online TV is to catch-up with broadcast schedules. 78% of online TV use is to catch-up; the remaining 22% is used for discovering new TV content. Also, although people welcome the convenience of watching TV online, they still prefer the broadcast TV schedules as their first port of call (Thinkbox’s joint research with the IAB in 2008 showed that three quarters of them thought online TV via PCs or Macs was good enough for its purpose, but not as good as watching via their main TV set).
The research also found that those catching or keeping up with broadcast streams generally approach online TV differently from those trying to discover new content. Those catching up tend to approach online TV in the same way as they do broadcast TV and consume it in the same way. ‘Discoverers’ expect the online TV experience to resemble general online experience and expect more interactivity.
Although the vast majority of online TV viewing remains in-home, the research also found that viewing at work or via mobile devices is rapidly increasing. Usage of both in-work and mobile has doubled in the last six months. Usage at work went from 8% to 16% and viewing via a mobile phone increased from 4% to 10%.
David Brennan, Research and Strategy Director at Thinkbox: “2008 was a watershed year for online TV services with some phenomenal growth. These findings should be exciting and reassuring for advertisers. They show the complementarity of different ways to watch TV.”
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Contact details
For more information or to arrange an interview with a spokesperson from Thinkbox, please contact Simon Tunstill at Thinkbox via simon.tunstill@thinkbox.tv or call 020 7630 2326
Methodology
Work Research used a multi-stage study featured seven different phases: two waves of quantitative research and five separate qualitative stages. The qualitative research studied a group of current non-users as they start using online TV, to understand both the barriers and the benefits, alongside a group who use online TV primarily to catch-up with broadcast TV. It also focussed on a major TV programming event to explore usage patterns and attitudes in order to understand how a programme that is both broadcast and online is consumed, and whether attitudes to the programme are different in any way.
A quantitative online study explored the key behaviours and motivations behind using online TV services and analysed respondents' views of advertising around online TV content, testing different and innovative ad formats.
About Thinkbox
Thinkbox is the television marketing body for the main UK commercial broadcasters - Channel 4, Five, GMTV, ITV, Sky Media, Turner Media Innovations and Viacom Brand Solutions. It works with the UK marketing community with a single ambition: to help customers get the best out of television. Thinkbox was launched in February 2005
TV today has more to offer advertisers than ever before, not least because this growing medium remains at the heart of popular culture and advertising effectiveness. From understanding how audiences engage with TV advertising, explaining innovative and affordable solutions, to providing the rigorous proof of effectiveness that advertisers need, Thinkbox is here to help customers meet their marketing objectives.
Thinkbox Research
Developing groundbreaking and robust new research to help advertisers understand exactly how advertising works is central to Thinkbox’s task. Thinkbox has undertaken a raft of major research initiatives with respected partners which cast new light on a range of unexplored areas. For more detail on the findings and downloadable presentations, please visit the Thinkbox website: www.thinkbox.tv.