During the second session on Friday morning at this year’s MRG Conference in Nice, Gary Roddy, research executive at Channel 4, had the task of ‘tracking down the elusive viewer’.
The problem of constant change over the last 30 years in everyday life means that these changes and the effect they have on the audience also have to be constantly monitored.
A constant theme during the conference – the massive choice of media – which is expanding all the time, means that the elusive viewer is getting harder to pin down. Roddy asked whether they need this elusive viewer and the answer was a most definite yes.
Research using BARB shows that light viewers make up about one third of the total number. Other research shows that the light viewer is usually also a light reader and radio listener.
The internet was then used as a research tool, as research shows that heavy internet users watch a lot less TV. Overall media consumption has fallen amongst web users and the biggest fall is amongst people accessing at home and at work.
Focus groups were then set up around the UK and the outcome showed that children emerged as a great source of power, being the people to usually turn the TV set on. It was found that there is also no recognisable demarcation between kids and adult programming like there used to be 20 years ago.
The main moans voiced by these elusive viewers interviewed were that there are too many repeats, poor quality sitcoms and games shows and the adverts are far too loud. They believe that digital TV will lead to the destruction of good quality TV and pay-per-view will be taking away more than you already have.
The conclusions drawn from this research were that to attract these ever elusive viewers, there is a need to avoid repeats, avoid moving programmes constantly and to treat viewers as individuals, not just numbers. The age of the TV channels appealing to the masses is outdated and they now need to create a more distinctive appeal.
