Despite the advent of new ways to access video content, a new study of the viewing habits of Australians shows that not only are they still spending the bulk of their viewing time in front of a television set, they are spending more time than before.
According to the report from Rapid TV News, Nielsen is reporting that people in Australia used their regular old TV 113 hours and 38 minutes per month to watch video during Q4 2011, a 6.1% increase over the level registered in Q4 2010 despite the increasing availability of other venues for video.
Viewing content over personal computers was considerably less frequent, averaging three hours 27 minutes per month, and viewing over mobile devices was even further down the list at an average one hour 20 minutes per month.
Australians used personal video recorders to time-shift program much more frequently, according to the report, registering a 60% increase to an average 12 hours monthly.
All demographics registered gains in traditional television use except 25-34s; and in what could be seen as a counterintuitive result, the biggest gain in traditional television use came in the demo below that, the 18-24s.
What was not counterintuitive is the fact that 18-34s were the biggest users of computers and mobile to access video.
RBR-TVBR observation: Some have been calling broadcasters dinosaurs (particularly those with a vested interest in broadcast’s extinction). Broadcasters have vehemently denied the charge. And here’s another recent study that shows the public supporting the broadcast position.
