Majority Of Viewers Still Watch Live TV Despite PVR Uptake
Speaking at the MediaTelINSIGHT TV Technology Seminar, held in association with MediaGuardian, a panel of industry experts discussed the top issues in the television technology marketplace and their implications for the advertising world.
The panel, chaired by Steve Busfield, media editor, Guardian Unlimited, was formed of Tess Alps, chairman of PHD; Nigel Foote, managing partner at Starcom; Rahul Chakkara, Head of BBCi and Andrew McIntosh, research director for ids.
The impact of personal video recorders (PVRs) on the advertising market place was one such issue raised, with the panel asserting that, despite industry scare mongering, this technology was not going to cause as big a threat to advertisers as previously thought.
Tess Alps explained: “People do fast forward through adverts, but not all the time. Although 80% to 90% of viewers skip through ads, people are still watching live TV for 60% of the time.”
The PHD chairman went on to say that because of the high number of people watching live TV, most people will have “already seen the advert and so if they recognise one that they like they’ll go back and watch it.”
Nigel Foote, agreed with Alps claiming that the more creative the advert the more likely people are to “entertain it”. Foote argued that PVRs give consumers more control, with people buying the devices not to skip through adverts, but to build their own TV schedule.
He continued: “Parents are using it as a way of editing content so they get the right kind of programming for their kids.”
Andrew McIntosh echoed these opinions, adding: “Having a PVR does not mean that you stop watching live TV, with most television viewing still live.”
The three panellists all agreed that television viewing was still a leisurely activity and although consumers like to be entertained, sometimes they cannot be bothered to fast forward adverts, with Alps asserting: “There will always be a market for sit back and watch TV.”
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