Comments and Analysis
Not too long ago many predicted the fall of Television, as more and more of the younger generation watched YouTube rather than traditional TV. However this did not turn out to be. Many now are coining these years as the Golden Age of Television. The digital explosion pretty much doubled the number of buyers we have around the world, just by the sheer number of platforms and the quality of content available. The dominance of OTT (Over-The-Top) platform is on the rise with Netflix leading the way and new services like Kindle Fire TV catching on. Quality of TV shows are also on the rise with big budgeted and highly credited shows like Game of Thrones a HBO original series and House of Cards a Netflix original series. Orange is the new black by Netflix is currently continuing the resurgence of high quality TV content.
What is happening is consumption habits are changing i.e. where and how people want to watch TV shows or movies. The change is brought about in the advancement of technology. No longer are we restricted to the time slots given by the broadcasters. With video-on-demand like services, we can now choose when we want to watch our favorite TV shows. We are currently at the tipping point of the move towards non-linear TV as Saturday morning cartoons have just recently been a thing of the pass. Consumers seem to be more willing to pay for connection, the convenience of where and how the content is to be consumed, rather than the content itself.
However, Linear TV is not disappearing. Its role is being more defined, with Linear TV gravitating towards live TV events (like sports, reality TV and concerts) and communal watching (i.e. watching with family and friends). In other words, Linear TV is more we while Non Linear TV is more me.
In conclusion, content developer must be aware of the changing consumption habits. They not only have to be mindful of what content is in demand in 2 years’ time but also the platform it is being consumed on. Both answers play an important role on what content needs to be developed and in what form. This includes the skills and the knowledge required to create content on the said delivery platform i.e. creating for YouTube is different from creating for Netflix or the BBC.
Salient Points
1. Definition: Linear TV is television that a viewer has to watch scheduled TV programs at the particular time it is offered. Non-Linear is everything else for example video on demand (VOD). However, consumers are converting the Linear TV experience into non-linear via catch-up TV or time shift functions.
2. Non-linear TV are on the rise with services offered by OTT, catch –up TV, short form video (YouTube, Vimeo) and etc.
3. Consumption habits are changing to non-linear TV. Currently we are at the tipping point, in the US this week, the last mainstream channel stop showing children’s programming on Saturday morning. Kids now prefer to consume cartoons on demand via OTT services.
4. Linear TV is now gravitating towards live TV and events like sports, reality TV and concerts. The role of Linear TV is more defined, 64% watch Linear TV to watch live events or live reality shows, 70% watch to zone out and not take active decision what to watch and 73% watch for communal purposes i.e. watching with the family.
5. Consumers seem to be more willing to pay for connection (i.e. convenience of where and how the content is to be consumed) rather than the content. Example, people are more likely to sign-up to Netflix more so that they can watch content whenever they want rather than what content was on Netflix.
Johan Fariz Marzuki Lam
No comments:
Post a Comment