Understanding behaviour in the new digital age - asi TV 2013
4 likes2,469 views
The document discusses findings from a 2013 European television symposium exploring audience behavior in the digital age. Key themes include the ongoing relevance of live TV and the Electronic Program Guide (EPG), despite shifting preferences towards self-curation and on-demand content. General findings reveal that viewers still seek content primarily through live broadcasts while valuing sociability and sensory experiences in their viewing habits.
Understanding behaviour in the new digital age - asi TV 2013
- 1. an asi conference The 2013 European Television Symposium Understanding behaviour in the new digital age 7th 8th – November @asi_radiotv Sponsored by:
- 2. Understanding behaviour in the digital world November 2013 Jonathan Fletcher, Managing Director, Illuminas Margo Swadley, Head of Audiences , BBC
- 3. Faced with a multitude of ways of finding and accessing television content, how do audiences find their way to content and how might that change in future? Slide 2
- 4. Hypothesis #1 - The EPG will go (it’s just a question of when) Hypothesis #2 – The schedule will no longer be key – audiences will self-curate Hypothesis #3- Children today watch everything online Hypothesis #4 - Audiences search for content by genre (“I’m in the mood for a comedy”) Hypothesis #5 - Channel brands are not important anymore (or at least much less important) Slide 3
- 5. The Behavioural Economics perspective Fundamental human needs/ motivations Biases & shortcuts in decision-making Varied needs NOT Abstract utility Satisficing NOT Maximising
- 6. The Behavioural Economics (BE) perspective on TV channels in the digital age Fundamental human needs/ motivations Shortcuts & biases affecting decision-making Sociability Priming & recognition Synchrony Physical interaction Sensory stimulus Rules of thumb (Heuristics) Inertia
- 7. Fieldwork to test the hypotheses • Live + video ethnography to capture fine detail of behaviour • 60 audience “safaris” • 3 hour sessions • Observed and videoed whilst viewing content • Verbal protocols and questioning • Media consumption diaries • Based on households (including children) Slide 6
- 8. Ensuring hypotheses were truly tested • Sample skewed towards emergent behaviours (e.g. online only, on the go viewing, and early adopters) but including a strong sample of mainstream • Hypotheses informed where we looked at and how to look but not what to look for Slide 7
- 9. . . . Findings Slide 8
- 10. General themes uncovered in the research: Sociability “TV as the ‘modern hearth’ “TV content as social currency’”
- 11. General themes uncovered in the research: Synchrony & Sensory stimulus “People want ‘live’” “The middlescreen” Slide 10
- 12. General themes uncovered in the research: Inertia “TV is mainly used for relaxation”
- 13. General themes uncovered in the research: Content search and selection Physical interaction aids thought “As long as it allows smooth interaction the EPG is an optimal means of searching and selecting TV content” Priming and recognition “EPG as the Point of Sale is supported by low involvement processing of marketing communications from other sources ” Heuristics help problem solving “Viewers use shortcuts and cues to help them choose content” Slide 12
- 14. There was an overwhelming consistency to the journey Do I know what I want to watch? YES NO OTHER: RESIDUAL Find through EPG Start from top of EPG, look for programmes Use paper guide or go up/ down through channels WATCH OTHER: NEW NICHE A few search by genre not channel Do I find a programme I want to watch? Wallpaper channel YES NO WATCH Start again from top of EPG, look for interestingsounding programmes on channels I like Do I find a programme I want to watch? YES NO WATCH Slide 13 Wallpaper channel
- 15. OTHER: NEW NICHE A few (busy people, parents with small children) start from PVR Check PVR Do I find a programme I want to watch? YES NO OTHER: NEW NICHE WATCH Go to catch-up/ on demand, search for programmes I missed Go to Netflix or on-demand before/instead of PVR Do I find a programme I want to watch? YES NO WATCH Look at most popular choices Slide 14
- 16. Key findings & implications 1. 2. 3. Everyone’s preference is watching live TV on a big screen, even young people Almost all TV viewing starts with live, even that of the young, smart TV owners and tech savvy People mostly look for programmes first – heading to the channel with that content Slide 15
- 17. Key findings & implications 4. 5. The EPG remains critical and will be hard to supplant The linear schedule is still important. Slide 16
- 18. Things might change…. If it becomes very cheap and easy to send content between screens… If the best content is available OTT… If getting on demand content on the telly is quicker and easier On demand might leapfrog PVR in order of preference Audiences might move much more quickly through the linear EPG (just to do a cursory check they aren’t missing anything rather than in the hopes of finding content to view). Slide 17
- 19. Pace….
- 20. If audiences move to on demand channel brands will weaken • • • When using catch up, viewers are aware of the master channel brand and the associated OD player - not the individual channel (e.g. 4OD rather than E4) Channel brand is diluted, even lost on pre-recorded and especially downloaded content on mobile devices Presence of D.O.G.s on OD search thumbnails and the actual content itself is inconsistent. Even when they are present, they are not clearly visible Slide 19
- 21. What could bring more radical changes? Government regulation/changes The PSBs could lose their prominence on the EPG and then the logical nature of the EPG might be disrupted. If social media becomes the way of finding out what is on. Then live television, and the EPG, would become less critical If News shifts entirely online (no linear news in the TV schedule) News is a key reason to view live and a main hook to the live schedule. If news on the television becomes redundant then this could erode the power of live on telly (but there would still be sport…) Slide 20
- 22. Not dead, just different. How cinema reconfigured itself around fundamental needs 1930s-1950s 1960s-1970s 1980-Present Information Entertainment 1976 “The death of cinema” predicted Sensory stimulation Personal preference Physical comfort Social experience Slide 21
- 23. Final Thought… • Audiences are happy with television! • It meets deep seeded needs in a quick and easy way Slide 22