Australia still loves TV, according to Multi-Screen Report Q1, 2015

OzTAM multi-screen report: Television remains dominant despite take up of new technology

By Sally Rawsthorne

Despite the changes to the way that we consume media, television continues to dominate screen time.

Key findings:
•  Australians watch on average 89 hours and 28 minutes (89:28) of broadcast TV on traditional TV sets per month
•  91.6% of broadcast TV is watched live, with 8.4% viewed in playback mode through the TV set within seven days
•  56% of homes have PVRs – 15% own two or more  (unchanged on the previous quarter)
•  30% of homes have internet-capable TVs, whether connected or not (unchanged on the previous quarter)
•  47% of homes have tablets (unchanged on the previous quarter)
•  77% of Australians aged 16+ own a smartphone (up from 73% in the previous quarter and 69% a year ago)
•  88.4% of all video viewing – across all screens and including broadcast and non-broadcast content – is on in-home TV sets

Released today, the Q1 Australian Multi-Screen Report from OzTam, Nielsen and Regional TAM shows that all demos spend the majority of their viewing time watching broadcast television on in-home television sets – 22.157 million Australians (of 22.13 million) reported watching television during q1 2015. However, YOY comparisons show that the amount of television being watched is down from 93.16 hours to 89.28 hours/month in 2015.

Video viewing, average time spent per month

The proportion of time spent watching live television has dropped to 91.6% of all television viewers, while playback viewing through the television set continues to rise. Other TV screen use via smart TVs also continues to rise. Despite these changes, 91.6% of television viewed on broadcast settees is live-to-air viewing. The uptake of devices other than television sets to watch is slowing, with internet capable televisions in 30% of homes and tablets in 47%.

Technology penetration

As to the predicted explosion of watching video via a mobile device, Australians’ use of that device to engage with video content is growing but remains small. While 77% of Australians 16+ have a smart phone (up on q1 2014’s 69%), only 11.6% of people watch video on a screen that is not the television.

Rather than to watch television, mobile use alongside television is increasingly prevalent with 75% of Australians 16+ saying they multi-screen and 31% of Australians triple screen.

Number of Australians who consume TV

Of the findings, OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer said: “Australians now have a remarkable range of options for watching their favourite television programs. Overall, nine in ten people watch broadcast TV each week, averaging nearly three hours of ‘traditional’ TV viewing per day across the population. We continue to see Australians spend a little less time at the ‘full buffet’ of live linear television and a little more time viewing ‘a la carte’, watching their favourite TV shows when they want.”Multi-Screen Report: Q1, 2015

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