A while back, I wrote about the death of “TV Time.” This concept was simple—people were spending less time watching TV while sitting on their couches, slave to some arbitrary schedule. Perhaps the article should have been named, “The TV Guide is Dead.” Oh well. Regardless, it got the point across. Less people were watching according to schedule. They wanted to watch when they wanted to watch.
The premise was based on data from a Nielsen report, State of the Media: Consumer Usage Report (2011) which indicated a dropping level of time spent watching linear television across a number of different demographic groups. It would seem that two years since that report and things have only gotten worse for broadcast media. In fact, according to a lot of new data from a variety of sources, the days of broadcasters seem to be numbered.
The graph above illustrates the continued drop in cable-TV subscribers (source: ISI Group / Business Insider), which for the first time may drop below 40m. The question to ask is, “Why?” Are people watching less video? According to Cisco, that is far from the case.
The growth of data
Cisco’s annual Internet Traffic Report (2013) shows that mobile traffic, perhaps the largest growing bucket of data in the world, continues to rocket upwards as people consume more video.
There are lots of stats about the growth of data consumption. But the best job in recent years to calculate just how much data we consume each day has been research carried out at the University of San Diego. According to their findings:
In 2008, Americans consumed information for about 1.3 trillion hours, an average of almost 12 hours per day. Consumption totaled 3.6 zettabytes and 10,845 trillion words, corresponding to 100,500 words and 34 gi...
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...rom broadcast media also heralds an opportunity. In a world of self-service digital, where consumers compare everything according to value, online video is the ultimate table stakes. For mere pennies a day, consumers can get the content they want (that’s key) when they want it on whatever device they are using. They can watch their shows on their time from the mobile phone or a tablet or a computer or a smartTV. And that is the ultimate value for whatever it costs. Perhaps broadcast media can figure it all out in time. Perhaps they can stave off Judgment Day by evolving their business models to provide the kind of value consumers want. Then they become just another online video provider competing for the same eyeballs as everyone else. Changing their business model (away from subscriptions) would require Herculean efforts.
Is that a pale horse I see on the horizon?
I am in agreement with Neil Postman when he states television is having an overall negative effect on our society; it promotes short attention spans. For this argument, Postman uses the example of the seven famous debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Postman explains, audiences would "cheerfully accommodate themselves to seven hours of oratory" (Postman, 1985, p. 44). I don’t believe this concept to be entirely true in today's society.
There are different classes, for example, out-of-home, in-store and other, for example, silver screen and shows however these different classes are additionally in nature as they are more constrained in the group of onlookers they reach or can target (Baines and Fill, 2014). TV and radio offer the chance to achieve mass groups of onlookers. It is frequently thought to be costly however because of the huge mass that can be achieved it is a moderately ease and given that it is visual or potentially solid based the interchanges can be brought to life keeping in mind the end goal to pass on the marketing message. Both TV and radio can recount stories and offer to feelings which is harder to do with print based media. Broadcast television can exhibit the product being used however once publicized it can't be referred to again by the consumer not at all like print which can be kept. There are expanding dangers to the viability of television advertising today as individuals can utilize their chronicle advancements to abstain from watching promotions. In the meantime changes in advanced innovations imply that expenses are falling thus even television broadcast can start to be custom-made to littler gatherings of people who can be targeted by land region or specific vested parties (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2013). There are clear signs that television networks are starting to give careful consideration to the watcher grumblings about the degree of advertising with numerous networks, for example, CBS, Fox, MTV and digital TV as a rule now indicating either bring down minutes every hour in advertisements or the development in minutes every hour backing off. This will expand the cost of advertising as there will be less time and space accessible yet it might
It falls behind technological advances, not considering other devices and technologies people use to watch TV, for example: computers, iPods, portable TVs, and media players.
TiVo's problem rests in its inability to convince consumers to change their television consumption habits. Improper targeting and positioning have led to an ineffective product, price-point and promotion strategy that has stranded TiVo in the chasm between the early market and the early majority.
In this case study we will gain a better understanding of TiVo, Inc. and how it has struggled to find success in a market they are known to be the innovator. At this point there are very few television viewers in North American that do not know what TiVo does for TV viewing. However, most consumers do not know the history or struggles this company has been through since creating the product in the late 1990’s. After reading this case study it is clear the creators of the TiVo were visionaries but it is also clear they were not business people too. Sadly, this might be the eventual demise of the company that clearly had the market in the palm of their hand. We will examine some of their flaws and how TiVo might regain some of the momentum to become a profitable organization.
“Digital Set to Surpass TV in Time Spent with US Media.” eMarketer. N.p., 1 Aug. 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
Before television existed people had to depend on Radio stations to receive their little bit of entertainment and news. But in 1878, the invention of TV began. The first TV made didn’t look anything like the way TV’s look today. It was a mechanical camera with a large spinning disc attached to it (Kids Work). But as over the years, of course, inventions of different TV’s progressed and by the 20th century about 90 percent of our population had a TV in their household (MGHR). Television today is mainly used for people take a break from their life by relaxing and enjoying some entertainment.
The TV is turned on at 8:30pm on a Tuesday evening. What is playing? Usually, a mix of different shows spattered across the many different stations vying to hold the 1# spot during the TV schedule window, known as “Prime Time.” A person may think that during this time, a plethora of television shows choices are available to him or her. But, is that choice really up to them? TV programming, especially during Prime Time, is highly researched and organized in order to garner as much viewership as possible. Components like, age, race, income, and interest, are all considered in the creation of a television show and play a vital role concerning where and when a show is placed on the TV schedule. Two networks, FOX, a broadcast network, and TBS, a cable network, use this kind of information to create program content, target certain audiences, and organize commercial lineup for the hit shows, respectively, Glee and the Big Bang Theory.
In the seductive world of television, someone is always there at 6:00 relating the news. When people begin to rely on the television for the news, weather, entertainment, and companionship, they begin to become less interested in what is going on around them in their community. Take and example which McKibben cites in his book. In the early 1900's people were extremely interested in politics. The American democracy was in full swing and as literacy and education climbed, so did the turnouts at the poles.
Today households have not one television but multiple, allowing for separate viewing per member. The most significant change is the realization that not only people can watch television by themselves, but that they prefer to do
27 Jan. 2012. Greenblatt, Alan. “Television's Future.” CQ Researcher, Vol. 17 (2007, February 16): 145-168.
Today, the average American home pays over $103 for their cable TV bill (not including phone and/or internet) and the cable companies continue to increase their prices each year by 2 to 4 percent. Yet, those who currently have cable TV, cannot possibly fathom the idea of life without the “awe-inspiring”
Television is everywhere these days, not just in our living rooms but in bathrooms, kitchens, doctor's offices, grocery stores, airplanes, and classrooms. We have access to TV virtually anywhere and as American's we are taking advantaged of it. Adults aren't the only ones watching TV; children today are watching more TV than ever before. TV has even become known as "America's baby-sitter." (Krieg). Meaning that parents are now using the television as a way of entertaining their children while they attempt to accomplish other things such as cooking and cleaning.
When television first came on the market about fifty years ago, families had one television at the most in the household, and most families only used the television for the news or for an occasional show or two. Today, it is a rarity if you find only one television in a household. Most families have numerous televisions in their house and use it more and more for entertainment purposes. People of all ages are addicted to television. On average, people watch about thirty hours of television a week. But the people who go beyond this mark are known to society as “couch potatoes';.