Broadcaster content remains the entry point to the TV viewing universe for most viewers when they turn on their TV device. Just over half (51%) of respondents first switch on linear TV when starting their TV and another 8% first access broadcaster VOD (BVOD) platforms.
The data comes from the fourth annual edition of The New Life of the Living Room — a study about consumer habits and opinions relating to video consumption commissioned by RTL AdAlliance, the international sales house for RTL Group.
It covered 12,500 respondents aged 18-64 across 14 European markets as well as the US.
Focusing on European TV viewers, 40% said they need less than one minute to find content on broadcast linear TV. This suggests content discovery remains one of the biggest consumer benefits of “traditional” TV.
Meanwhile, 59% of Europeans still turn to broadcast TV for news, while the figures are 44% for both sport and entertainment. More than three-fifths (63%) of European viewers consider subscription VOD (SVOD their top choice for movies and series.
The research was conducted in February. The European markets covered were: Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Switzerland and Austria. The last three countries were added to the study this year.
RTL’s study found that 45% of consumers watch linear TV daily and 36% view SVOD daily. The researchers investigated how viewers define “watching TV” and found that 52% relate this term to watching long-form content like sports or films on a TV screen, even if the content is accessed through YouTube.
Only 36% consider viewing similar content on mobile or desktop as TV. Meanwhile, 22% of respondents regard viewing creator-generated and user-generated content on YouTube via a TV set as “watching TV”.
The New Life of the Living Room investigated consumer trust in different media channels. It found that 66% of respondents trust broadcast linear TV, but the figure is only 58% for BVOD, 67% for radio and 64% for newspapers/magazines. TikTok is trusted by only 23% of respondents.
RTL Ad Alliance said: “This shows that viewers do make a distinction between platforms — and they attribute a different value in terms of ad experience and trust.”
Ads are perceived as less intrusive on traditional channels like linear TV (55%) compared with video-sharing platforms (61%), the study found.
