Broadcasters beware: broadband is stealing your viewers. This is the warning of a new report from the researchers at Strategy Analytics.
A study conducted by the global researcher shows that television broadcasters are losing millions of viewers to broadband internet services. Out of the 800 European broadband users surveyed, 56% said they were spending ‘less’ or ‘a lot less’ time watching television since subscribing to broadband.
More and more people are choosing to spend their spare time communicating online and finding entertainment on the internet rather than sitting in front of the TV.
David Mercer, principal analyst said: “Television is clearly suffering the most from the rapid growth of broadband.” Strategy Analytics is urging TV companies to do something to keep up with new entertainment trends. “TV companies need to face up to this reality and start preparing for the brave new world of broadband entertainment,” adds Mercer.
The report says that TV programmers and service providers can deal with the change in viewing trends by continuing to improve interactive TV services and digital video recorders (DVRs). At the same time, they should plan to make the broadband channel an integral part of their future TV programming schedule, it says.
The research showed that broadband users are also spending less time with other traditional media such as newspapers and radio. However, some users report an increase in viewed content, as material can now also be accessed via the internet.
Another report out this week, from the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing, offers a more upbeat outlook for TV (see Traditional TV Is Not Dead Yet, Finds Survey).
CTAM said that 57% of US consumers still like to sit down and watch standard television – so it may not be all bad news for TV just yet. However, going online was also relatively popular, with 22% of consumers logging on to watch their favourite programmes, according to the CTAM survey.
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