The real future for television

Kevin Spacey hit the nail on the head when he said on-demand platforms will continue to be embraced by broadcasters and audiences – but the UK industry must not lose sight of the traditional viewing model says Julie Parmenter, MD at TV and Film post production house, Molinare.

Kevin Spacey’s MacTaggart lecture at this year’s Edinburgh Festival was thought provoking and has raised much debate about the future of television. However, while Spacey discussed the advantages of internet streaming for shows, most notably referencing the Netflix service model, his message doesn’t necessarily resonate entirely with the UK system.

While viewers have responded positively towards on-demand platforms the appetite amongst audiences for watching shows as they are broadcast is far from diminishing. The future of television is now in the social media age and it is this platform that will continue to drive the success of traditional TV.

Kevin Spacey was right to galvanize TV executives to embrace online offerings, this is very much an integral viewing platform giving audiences the ability to be able to watch what they want, when they want; the success of his original Netflix series House of Cards proves this.

However, Spacey’s notion that this will be the future of television is not entirely an accurate prediction for the UK industry. For example, the first episode of the X-Factor, which started this month, achieved a tremendous 9.2 million viewers for the Saturday show, which then went on to peak at 9.9 million views for the Sunday evening edition.

Such ratings prove that there is an overwhelming desire from audiences to watch shows live on the night rather than after the event. In the week that followed the show had even more people catch-up through ITV Player, but just under ten million viewers for a sunny Saturday evening contradicts Spacey’s argument to place such a great emphasis on internet platforms.

It’s not only the X-Factor drawing in viewers, 90 per cent of people watch programmes as they are broadcast on traditional TV channels – and increasingly people want to tune into the top shows and watch them so they can be part of the online conversation and debate.

For workers across the country there is still the chatter around the water cooler about last night’s EastEnder’s or the latest eviction on the Great British Bake Off, but this conversation has also moved on to a larger scale through social media during the show.

Twitter accounts and hashtags for programmes and series have ensured the debate can reach vast audiences, and drive engagement to get more people tuning in for the next episode. Additionally, with Facebook’s recent introduction of hashtags this will enable the interactive conversation to reach further.

In the current market social media is dominating marketing and publicity for shows and has become a pivotal point for channels. Measurements for social media activity are just as critical for success as ratings; now when channels are seeking advertising for programmes, tweets and Facebook activity for previous series are also disclosed in order to secure deals.

While Spacey was wrong to underestimate the popularity of live TV shows in the UK, he was right to highlight the following on-demand TV has carved from certain audiences. Catch-up TV provides people with the opportunity to get addicted to shows and engage, making a more immersive experience.

However, trends in demographics for online viewing vary. For a younger audience the platform they view content from does not matter as much as the ability to watch their favourite programmes on demand wherever they are. For the older audience, catch-up TV is a key development as they are able to watch missed shows from the week of broadcast.

While this group is often less likely to have the time to binge watch a whole series in a marathon viewing session, they are happy for the build-up waiting for the next week’s episode. Yet what is true for all demographics, on demand TV has provided the opportunity to see favourite shows at your own pace.

Technology will continue to advance the way in which viewers are able to watch television but we must not forget the more time-honoured platforms that continue to command audiences. The industry might have moved beyond the days of one channel and limited daily programming, but with so much choice there is still nothing quite like sitting down to watch your favourite show, even on a laptop or tablet.

On demand and internet streaming platforms will continue to be embraced by broadcasters and audiences but it’s up to us as an industry not to lose sight of the traditional viewing model.

Julie Parmenter is managing director of TV and film post production house, Molinare.