As the popularity of online streaming video surges, the time spent viewing traditional TV broadcasts including free-to-air and Foxtel continues to fall.
The first Australian Video Viewing Report is based on data from Nielsen and TV audience measurement companies OzTAM and Regional TAM.
The report found that even though broadcast TV remains the most popular source of video, the average Australian spent 8% less time viewing content this way in Q1 2017 than in the same period a year ago. Each person spends 79:30 watching broadcast TV at home each month according to the data.
Declines were even more prominent for the 25-34 age group, which viewed 20% less broadcast TV during the quarter compared to a year earlier, as well as the 18-24 age group which viewed 22% less, and teens and kids which viewed 14% and 16%, respectively.
“As we move through 2017 we’ve continued to see growth of Australians aged 18-24 engaging with video content online,” said Craig Johnson, Regional Managing Director, Media, Nielsen.
“This is certainly reflected in video viewing on mobile devices with this group now spending more than nine hours a month watching video via a smartphone – making them the biggest consumers of mobile video content. Content providers and advertisers need to be flexible with their approaches in order to reach consumers where they are, and on any screen size they choose for that moment,” Johnson said.
Comparison between time spent watching broadcast TV and time spent watching video on desktops and laptops is not possible based on differences between data in the report.
However, time spent viewing video increased on the previous quarter across all people and is currently at an average of 13:04 per viewer.
In contrast to broadcast TV viewing, the time spent using TVs for other purposes like streaming video, gaming and DVDs grew from 30:38 in Q1 2016 to 31:32 in Q1 2017, an increase of about 3%.
