The video revolution will be televised
With the help of new consumer data from Sky, Starcom MediaVest Group’s Simon Stanforth says there are five common myths to be debunked when it comes to video.
As smartphone and tablet adoption explodes, we at Starcom MediaVest Group are finding that the concept of “video” is becoming inextricably linked in the minds of commentators and brands with “place-shifting” (it’s the new time-shifting!).
The number of second, third and fourth TV sets in the home has steadily declined – at the same time the number of us in the UK who own a tablet has steadily grown, and the rollout of 4G should mean that watching video on a mobile device at home or on the go is a more and more seamless experience for the user. The common misconception derived from these and other trends is that “video” is something that takes place elsewhere, on another screen, out of the living room.
It’s easy to forget therefore, tucked away on the Thinkbox website, the fact that around 42% of all long form catch-up TV content provided by the broadcasters is watched via the TV set. This was as true when Sky had one million connected homes in 2012 as it is now – but recently Sky announced the number of connected Sky homes has grown, more than 50% year on year, to 6 million. Even now, with over a fifth of the population able to easily watch a huge library of Sky and other content in the comfort of their living room; this still feels to us, like video’s best kept secret.
To enable us to shout it from the rooftops and hopefully prompt a wider reappraisal, Sky kindly shared some of their latest data on their customers’ on-demand content consumption via their TV sets. The trends we identified within show that currently too many anachronisms exist when we think about what we watch on our TVs and what this means for media planners and advertisers, both now and in the future.
Sky are arguably in a unique position to identify patterns in people’s viewing ahead of the market. Their combination of premium broadcast content, the means of distribution, the all-important return path and rich customer data enables them to see in real time how behaviour is changing. The position Sky holds ahead of the curve, as a barometer for future trends, enabled us to do some video myth-busting (in honour of one of our favourite Sky shows).
Video myth #1: Consumers are slow to “smarten up” their TV, even if they own a suitable device, as they are happy for it to remain a “dumb” screen and watch on demand content on other devices.
At the end of June, Sky revealed that more than half of all its TV customers have now connected their Sky+HD box to broadband for easy access to its full range of on demand services. This milestone follows the launch last summer of Sky’s big marketing push to drive take-up and usage of their connected TV services, adding value to their customers and opening up new growth opportunities as they seek to enhance their overall pay TV proposition.
Only a few months later, Sky has updated us on this figure, with the total number of connected Sky+HD boxes having now reached six million homes. This explosive growth means that more than 50% of Sky’s 10.7 million TV customers are now connected, stretching Sky’s lead as Britain’s most popular connected TV platform.
Sky’s expanded Box Set offering has proved particularly popular, with more than 300 box sets now available on Sky (which as they like to note is more titles than anywhere else), and exclusive premium programming like 24 and Grey’s Anatomy have achieved over 10 million downloads each.
Video myth #2: When viewing on-demand content consumers prefer using apps, or more user friendly devices with keyboards and touch screens.
Consumers continue to demonstrate a preference for watching TV programmes, whether live or catch-up, on the biggest and best available device for the situation. All of Sky’s evidence points to the main TV set being the most popular place to watch on demand content.
Not only is a bigger base driving overall usage of on demand viewing but those who view on demand content are then going on to increase their usage over time – downloads per home have increased by 39% year on year for the latest month.
Video myth #3: Compared to linear TV channels, video is and always will be a small proportion of what people watch on their TVs.
With downloads up more than three-fold in the last year, the impact on the viewing experience has been transformational for those six million homes.
In the most recent quarter, on-demand viewing accounted for more than 5% of total viewing – making it equivalent to the second most popular commercial channel in connected Sky households.
Video myth #4: Video struggles to gain traction on the “first screen” because it has to come at the expense of live TV viewing.
Evidence also shows that connected TV households watch more television overall as they watch an average of 55 minutes more per day than non-connected homes. Live viewing is still extremely important for these households and watching according to the viewer’s schedule does not appear to erode the minutes they are spending watching live television. To the contrary, all technology that enables people to tear up the TV schedule appears to consistently lead to more viewing overall.
Video myth #5: Opportunities for advertisers around video content consumed via the TV set are limited, with better and more varied targeting available across other devices.
Sky Media has recently developed new ways to target and reach these valuable connected homes, and data-driven targeting of commercials within all on-demand content will soon be available.
From 2015, Sky will be serving ads dynamically in all set-top-box on-demand content. Sky intends to serve these ads with AdSmart capability, offering advertisers a unique opportunity to reach these homes in an extremely targeted way. Advertisers will have the ability to target existing AdSmart attributes around on demand content on the TV set including Mosaic Lifestyle, lifestage and household composition segments.
The latest data from Sky has reinforced our belief at Starcom MediaVest Group in an integrated screen planning approach to AV. From a sample of six million, we can see what the future might look like as more homes become connected homes, with consumers happy to watch any type of content on their TV sets.
The notion of a hierarchy of screens, with live content on the TV and video viewing on other devices, has been challenged by screen agnosticism from the viewer. When it comes to people watching what they want to watch, when they want to watch it, remember – no screen is sacred.
Simon Stanforth is group research director, Starcom MediaVest Group