From the look of it, consumers gradually are shifting from viewing TV from the couch to watching content via online video streaming.

Ericsson ConsumerLab just released the results of its study, "TV & Video Consumer Trend Report 2011," showing people are spending slightly less time watching scheduled broadcast TV and more time watching online TV.

Data was collected in Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the U.K., the United States and South Korea. Of the almost 400 million consumers surveyed, 38 percent reported watching Internet-based, on-demand TV more than once a week, while some 80 percent watch broadcast TV more than once a week.

Glenn Britt, CEO at Time Warner Cable, recently made headlines when he said broadband was becoming the MSO’s "anchor service."

"People want both broadcast and on-demand viewing to be available," said Anders Erlandsson, senior advisor at Ericsson ConsumerLab, in a statement. "TV and video have not been negatively affected by the Internet in the same way that print has; we just watch TV in many more ways than we did before."

Ericsson ConsumerLab’s findings are aligned with data from other groups, including SNL Kagan and Forrester Research (For more, see ?OTT Continues to Chip Away at Pay-TV Subscriptions).

More than 40 percent of respondents to Ericsson’s annual survey are multitasking – using social media on such devices as smartphones and tablets while they watch traditional TV.??

"Our in-depth interviews – especially those in the U.S., which is a frontrunner in TV/video consumer trends – show how social media usage is impacting viewing," Erlandsson explained. "The majority of families combined TV viewing with the use of Twitter, Facebook, texting, voice calls and forum discussions about what they watched. This is particularly the case when watching reality shows and sports."

In terms of what consumers want most from their TVs, good quality remains the top factor and is more important than, for example, the availability of 3D TV and access to applications. The service for which consumers are most willing to pay is access to the newest movies that still are running at the theaters.

-Linda Hardesty

The Daily

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