Motorola Research Outlines Shift in Traditional TV Viewing

Consumer hunger for social media connectivity and demand for “anytime, anywhere” entertainment is driving dramatic industry convergence and radically shifting the traditional TV viewing experience, according to a global study released today by Motorola Mobility.

Motorola Mobility’s 2011 Media Engagement Barometer – an independent global study of video consumption habits among 9,000 consumers in 16 markets – shows several major themes redefining the home ecosystem and consumer entertainment experience. This year’s study found that consumers expressed a deep hunger for mobile TV, social TV, connected home and personal cloud services. Individually, each of these categories offers service providers significant opportunities to expand value-added services, improve customer loyalty and tap into new revenue streams.

Consumer’s desire for constant connection is influencing TV and video consumption, which accounts for an average of 15 hours per week worldwide. Germans now watch an average of 18 hours a week of TV and video compared to 14 hours (TV and video) in 2010. U.S. respondents now watch 21 hours of TV per week – two hours more than in 2010.

On-demand TV courtesy of the consumer’s DVR is shifting how and when consumers watch TV. This year, three times as many U.S. consumers are watching on-demand TV – 18 percent in 2011 compared to 5 percent last year. The UK had a similar increase with 15 percent of consumers watching on-demand TV in 2011 compared to 8 percent in 2010.

With an average of 12 hours spent online per week and another six hours dedicated to social media, online engagement continues to be a mainstay in the consumer’s weekly routine. Additionally, social TV is already a big trend, with more than half (61 percent) of global respondents saying that they have already discussed a TV program with friends via a social network. The trend is expected to continue – an additional 49 percent said they would be interested in this type of service.

Additional global online engagement and social TV findings include:

• A preference for accessing a social TV service using a PC, smartphone or tablet (43 percent) instead of the TV using an on-screen menu (40 percent).
• Using social networks to comment on the program is the preferred social TV service for 89 percent of respondents in Germany, 87 percent in the U.S. and 60 percent in South Korea.
• Respondents in Russia (55 percent) and the U.S. (34 percent) said they would prefer a social TV service that links through to sites to buy products featured on the program, while only 23 percent of respondents in Germany preferred this type of service.
• People worldwide preferred a service that allows them to video chat with family and friends; support for this feature was especially high in China at 58 percent of respondents interested this type of service, compared to 37 percent of U.S. respondents and only 19 percent in the UK.

Mobile TV has taken off in the past year – more than a third (37 percent) of global respondents claim to watch TV services outside the home on a smartphone, tablet, PC or laptop.

• The 2011 research discovered a nearly five-fold increase from 2010 in U.S. TV viewing taking place on smartphones – 23 percent are currently watching mobile TV on their smartphones.
• Comparatively, 46 percent of Japanese respondents report they have watched mobile TV on their smartphones in 2011.
• Germany (22 percent), UAE (20 percent), and Mexico and Singapore (both 19 percent) are also big mobile TV fans, while Argentina had only 7 percent of consumers watching mobile TV less than once a week.
• Finally, more than a quarter (27 percent) of the global consumers aged between 25-34 years watch mobile TV on a mobile device once or twice a week, as do just over a third (34 percent) of consumers in the 45-54 age group and (33 percent) of respondents in the 55+ age group.