Video viewing in Australia continues to diversify

Monday, October 30th, 2017
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More Screens, More Choice, More Diverse Viewing Activity

New technologies and portable connected devices dramatically expand viewing opportunities and encourage the ‘spreading’ behaviour across various platforms and screens.

The Q2 (April-June) 2017 Australian Video Viewing Report – from Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen – reveals that people are continuing to take advantage of the nearly infinite choice in video content and the means of accessing it.

And while choice contributes to the progressive and gradual decline in time spent watching live and time-shifted television, most Australians – young and old – still watch broadcast TV.

Across the population, Australians spend an average of 2 hours and 41 minutes each day watching free-to-air and/or subscription channels on in-home TV sets. That’s just 37 fewer minutes per day than six years ago (in Q2 2011), despite the range of new options.

Report Highlights

  • 20 million Australians (84.2% of the population in people metered markets) watch broadcast TV (free-to-air and subscription channels) on in-home TV sets each week.
  • Australians watch an average of 81 hours and 25 minutes (81:25) of broadcast TV on in-home TV sets per person each month.
  • In Q2 2017 other TV screen use accounted for spent 28% of Australians’ time with their sets (31:38 per month in Q2 2017). In prime time the proportion was 25% (14:25).
  • Even with extensive platform, content and device choice, Australians watch 2:41 of live and playback TV on in-home TV sets each day – just 37 fewer minutes per day than they did six years ago (Q2 2011).
  • Australians played, on average, 306 million minutes of broadcasters’ online content weekly on connected devices in Q2 2017.
  • The amount of broadcasters’ online TV content viewed continues to grow: overall, 1-2% of all broadcast TV content viewed each week is Internet-delivered.

OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer said: “The Q2 2017 Australian Video Viewing Report paints a nuanced picture of the many factors that collectively influence screening behaviour. As the data sources that inform our report become richer and more detailed, it’s clear that the cross-screen activity we’ve been documenting for several years is not due to any one development, rather, the combination of device, platform and content choice along with life stage, income and employment levels. And let’s not forget weather, which also contributes to the relative viewing levels and seasonal fluctuations in all five cities.”

Craig Johnson, Regional Managing Director, Media, Nielsen, said: “Most Australians across all age brackets still have the TV screen at the core of their video viewing habits. However high value demographic segments, such as the 18-49 year old group, are overall consuming more video content than ever before when we take into account their high engagement with video across various screen sizes.”

Regional TAM Chairman and General Manager, Prime Television, Tony Hogarth said: “This latest edition of the Australian Video Viewing Report continues to provide the market with a complete picture of video content consumption across platforms and devices. With all the viewing options available to consumers, broadcast television viewing on in-home television sets reaches over 20 million Australians (84 per cent) each week. Regional Australians in particular spend 87 hours and 42 minutes watching broadcast television on average each month, which is more than 6 hours above the national average.”

About The Australian Video Viewing Report

The Australian Video Viewing Report is the country’s only national research into trends in video viewing in Australian homes across television, computers and mobile devices drawing on the best available measurement sources. It combines data from the OzTAM and Regional TAM television ratings panels; Nielsen Digital Content Ratings; and OzTAM’s Video Player Measurement (VPM) data.