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Australians watching 6 hrs less TV per month

Live TV viewing is down, Timeshifted is up as Australians take greater control over their remote.

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Australians are watching 6:10hrs less than they were a year ago, according to the latest findings of the Multi Screen Report from Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen.

Between April – June 2015, Australians watched on average 90 hours and 53 minutes of broadcast TV per month, down from 97:03 hrs for the same time last year.

Live viewing continues to dominate at 91% (82:42hrs per month), but has dropped gradually each of the past five years. However, Timeshifted viewing is at 9%, up 13 minutes a month.

88% (90:53hrs per month) of all video viewing is on the traditional TV set, down from 89.1%.

12 per cent of all video viewing takes place on screens other than the TV. This includes includes catch-up, streaming sites and apps as well as non-broadcast content:

o 7:32 per month online via PCs/laptops (7.3%)
o 2:47 per month on smartphones (2.7%)
o 2:03 per month on tablets (2%)

100% of Australian television homes can access digital terrestrial television.

57% of homes have PVRs, up by 2%.

30% of homes have internet-capable TVs, up by 3%.

47% of homes have tablets, up by 5%

75% of Australians aged 16+ own a smartphone, up by 5%.

OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer said: “It’s fascinating to see how Australians are spreading their TV consumption across various platforms and devices. Though live TV watched through the TV set still accounts for the vast majority of viewing, people are increasingly taking control.

“There is more time-shifted viewing, including 8-28 day playback (which isn’t reported in Consolidated ratings); people are using on-demand services including broadcasters’ catch-up and streaming apps and services, along with other video; and there is more ‘binge viewing’.

“Together such activities are taking a few minutes each day away from live TV viewing. We will continue to monitor this progressive change.”

The data has been released in the latest Multi-Screen Report (Q2 2015) from Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen (numbers and methodology have not been supplied).

13 Responses

  1. Is “100% of Australian television homes can access digital terrestrial television.” correct? I thought a lot of people in the remote parts of the country could only get satellite FTA channels. I also have two friends who don’t have an aerial for FTA tv, since they only have Foxtel.

    1. My friend, who lives in Numinbah Valley and can neither receive DVB or VAST, finds this claim most amusing! He did have analogue service for many decades, until broadcast ceased. In case anyone doesn’t know, this is 39km west of Surfers Paradise, in the Gold Coast Hinterland.

    1. Really? Sounds about right to me. Remember, that 91% live figure is for broadcast TV only – it doesn’t include catchup, streaming, & other on-line viewing. Admittedly, the actual report makes this clearer. It also says that PVR penetration is 57% – if all those folks watch recorded/timeshifted broadcast TV for a couple of hours a day, it pretty much accounts for the other 9% of the total.

      While I’m always ready to challenge rubbery figures from OzTAM or CRA, at least in this case it all seems internally consistent.

      The release doesn’t give the methodology (after all, that’s OzTAMs only real asset) but it does mention their sources – the OzTAM/Regional TAM ratings panels & Nielsen’s Consumer & Media View data (e.g. Netview surveys).

      1. That makes more sense! Thank you, I thought it meant that of all forms of content viewing – broadcast, SVOD, etc – that 91% was live broadcast. That’s why I was thinking bull dust!

  2. Ninety hours a month? That’s an average of 3 hours every single day! You’d have to be a fan of reality / competition shows or have low standards to consistently meet that quota.

    I just added my up viewing for the last week and it came to 11½ hours of broadcast TV, including 6 hours of news and current affairs that is on in the background in case something interesting comes up. Add in a couple of hours of iView / SBS On Demand, and the rest is Foxtel via a friend or channel internet.

    Contrast that with a few years ago when I was watching around 4-5 hours most nights, usually winding down with Sandra Sully and Brad McEwan, and then Craig Ferguson when it was still starting at a consistent time and finishing before midnight.

  3. There is nothing on to fill an evening of tv. Tend to watch tv in the early evening and options are news/reality. Not interested in those so tend to either catch up on one drama from late at night a previous night and more often than not turn the box off after. Networks are so narrow minded these days.

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