Commercial TV Continues To Grow
Thinkbox has just published its Quarter 2 review for 2007, which shows that commercial TV is continuing to grow.
The research shows that as digital penetration has expanded, so too have commercial impacts.
Thinkbox says that individuals’ impacts rose over 3.3% against the same quarter last year and, as in the first three months of the year, 16-24s and ABC1 adults showed even higher levels of growth (5.2% and 3.4% respectively).
In the first six months of 2007, people watched an average of 2.26 hours of commercial TV per day – 10 minutes more than in the equivalent period five years ago.
While total broadcast TV viewing remains stable, with individuals watching 3.65 hours per day, commercial channels now account for 61.9% of that time, up half a percentage point on the same period last year.
Emerging forms of TV viewing, via mobile phones and broadband, are not yet measured by BARB, but would be incremental to these figures said Thinkbox.
Over 81% of UK homes are digital, and for the first time over 50% of all TVs – including secondary sets – are digitally enabled also. 12% of all homes now have access to PVRs (or DTRs) with Sky the major supplier.
Ofcom’s latest Digital Progress Report, published in June, showed that more than 80% of households in the UK now receive digital television services on their primary set (see Digital TV Penetration In The UK Exceeds 80%).
Thinkbox says that there are now 2.4 million Sky+ homes in the UK, representing 28% of all Sky subscribers; this has surpassed their own take-up predictions three years ahead of schedule. Recent launches of Freeview Playback and the V+ box are likely to accelerate the penetration of PVRs.
Last week, Sky announced that Sky+ acquisitions were up 821,000, with its full year revenue increasing by 10% to £4.5 million (see BSkyB Revenues Increase).
At the end of May, Freeview unveiled its first major marketing push for Freeview Playback, focusing on consumers who have yet to go digital (see Freeview Launches Major Ad Campaign For PVR).
Tess Alps, Thinkbox CEO, said: “The latest quarter’s impacts growth, boosted in part by the weather, is delivering amazing value to advertisers. It’s not too late to grab your share of TV’s growth this year.”
Recent research from ZenithOptimedia forecast that the UK television ad market will stop shrinking this year, and start growing again in 2008 (see UK TV Ad Market To Grow).
Television will however grow for only 1%-2% a year for the rest of the forecast period, and its market share will decline from 27.2% in 2006 to 22.7% in 2012 said Zenith.
Thinkbox: www.thinkbox.tv