Emma Okonji
Ericsson has unveiled the eighth edition of its annual ConsumerLab TV and Media report, which details the massive growth in TV and video viewing and the ongoing shift in the way consumers watch television content.
Supported by eight years of extensive media insights, Ericsson ConsumerLab predicts that the growth of on-demand viewing will continue to soar through to 2020, making up almost half of total viewing.
According to the report, 50 per cent of all television and video viewing will take place on a mobile screen such as tablets, smartphones and laptops, which is an increase of 85 per cent since 2010, with the smartphone alone accounting for almost one quarter, which is an increase of nearly 160 per cent since 2010.
The report also said that virtual reality (VR) would be on the road to becoming mainstream, with 1 in 3 consumers becoming VR users by 2020.
Last year, when Ericsson released the seventh edition of its annual ConsumerLab TV and Media Report, it stated that 48 per cent of all active viewing in South Africa was on-demand. Consumers spend most of their viewing time watching downloaded TV and video content, followed by streamed on-demand content, TV series and movies, as well as recorded TV and movies.
Live and Linear TV and video viewing was fuelled by TV series and movies, while live sports only made up 6 per cent of the total weekly active viewing time. The average South African TV viewer will spend 11 years of their life searching the TV guide for something to watch. When it comes to using multiple on-demand services across several devices, millennials are the most interested group at 46 per cent, while 58 per cent of South Africans showed the highest interest levels for such capabilities.
Senior Advisor, Ericsson ConsumerLab, Anders Erlandsson, said: “We can see that consumers are not only watching more video but also changing how and when they do so. This is also shown through the continued growth of mobile viewing, which has been a booming trend since 2010. This year also marks the first time that we have explored the level of consumer interest in VR in conjunction with media consumption, and the findings have been fascinating.
“VR has the potential to bring together people from all over the world and create deeper, more personalised, and more complementary media experiences. As consumer expectations for on-demand, mobile and immersive viewing continues to increase, the TV and media industry must focus on delivering highly personalised services in the very best possible quality available.â€
According to the report, the time spent watching TV and video content has reached an all-time high of 30 hours a week, including active viewing of scheduled linear TV, live and on-demand internet services, downloaded and recorded content, as well as DVD and Blu-ray. However, close to 60 per cent of viewers now prefer on-demand viewing over scheduled linear TV viewing, an increase of around 50 per cent since 2010.
The report further revealed that the average number of used on-demand services has increased from 1.6 in 2012 to 3.8 services in 2017 per person, and that 2 in 5 consumers already pay for on-demand TV and video services today and nearly a third, which is about 32 per cent said they would increase their on-demand spending in the next 6-12 months.
Portability is also becoming increasingly important factor, with more than a third of consumers wanting access to content when abroad, and smartphone viewing also continues to gain ground. Approximately 70 per cent of consumers now watch videos on a smartphone, which is double the amount from 2012, making up a fifth of total TV and video viewing, the report said.
