Traditional television is not dead – at least not yet, according to a new report from Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM). With the 50th birthday of colour TV approaching, US-based CTAM conducted research to find out if there is any truth behind speculation ‘that traditional TV has had its day’.
The report shows that 57% of US consumers still like to sit down and watch standard television; going online to watch programmes was also relatively popular with 22% of consumers logging on. However, only one in ten said they use DVDs and videos to pre-record programmes.
Although TV viewing habits are changing, over 64% of people in the US still know what they are going to watch before they settle down in front of the TV for the evening. Nearly half of all viewing (48%) is dedicated to watching a programme that viewers regularly make an appointment to watch and 53% of people say they prefer to stick with one show and not change channel while it is on.
Over half of viewers are loyal to their favourite TV programmes and generally do not switch over whilst they are on, although 50% said they have watched a new channel in the last year.
Behaviour towards TV has already started to change due to the introduction of digital cable and satellite interactive programming guides. These changes are set to continue as more people upgrade to new technology, according to CTAM. Two in ten people surveyed said they would like to buy a high definition television set (HDTV) and the majority of these expect to get HDTV reception from cable.
A recent report from InStat/MDR found that 45 million households worldwide will receive HDTV by 2008, up from just over 4 million this year (see HDTV Expected To Take Off By 2008).
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