NewsLine Comment: Rob Hobson – Granada Enterprises
Rob Hobson, planning manager at Granada Enterprises, responds to recent research from BT Yahoo! Broadband which claims that internet users now spend more time online than watching television (see Consumers Are Spending More Time Online).
You may well have seen claims last week by BT Openworld that consumers are spending more time surfing the internet then they are watching television. If you were asked the same question, wouldn’t the answer be a resounding no?
Television viewing is currently at levels unheard of in the last 10 years. According to BARB data, the average person tunes in for 3.7 hours per day. The internet does not have one single measurement survey however Comscore estimates that internet users spend approximately 0.6 hours per day surfing.
Importantly, both these surveys are based on large samples and on actual metered usage data – not claimed usage. This is often open to bias. It’s also worth remembering that while virtually everybody tunes into television, less than half the country are regular internet users, meaning that for the majority of people their daily internet usage is more like zero minutes!
Of course the internet does play a significant part in many peoples lives. Indeed for many advertisers online is already part of their integrated campaigns. What’s more interesting for advertisers however is the power of the television commercial. The most recent Chartered Institute of Marketing survey found that 63% of consumers felt that television had the most informative, entertaining or interesting adverts, compared to just 8% specifying press ads, 6% radio ads and a mere 1% favouring internet adverts. Crucially for advertisers, 43% of those surveyed said that television ads were most likely to make them respond, against 13% for press, 5% for radio and 2% for the internet.
As the capabilities and technologies of TV’s and PC’s continue to merge, change in media consumption patterns in the future is inevitable. And the outlook for television looks positive. We only need to look at last weekend’s line-up on ITV1 – viewers were treated to a pitch side seat in Turkey for the England Euro 2004 qualifier before being transported back to 16th century England to witness the reign of Henry VIII. Nearly 40 million viewers tuned in to ITV1 over the weekend.
According to Zenith Media’s latest forecasts, television will remain key to advertisers’ plans. The medium will in fact gain share of marketing budgets as interactivity provides new opportunities. At the same time they predict that Internet advertising will also grow its share as more users come online. So, who loses out in this technology driven change? Perhaps, unsurprisingly, it’s the traditional press market – its role as news and information provider is slowly being eroded by the Internet, while also being left behind by the possibilities of digital TV.
If you would like to respond or make further comment on this or any other NewsLine article, please email [email protected].
Subscribers can access previous articles by NewsLine columnists in the Columnist Archive – click button on left.