Archive for November, 2006
British web users continue to move away from TV and newspapers
November 30th, 2006
Following the ‘Online video takes a bite out of TV‘ post on Monday, I was interested to read Rick Wray’s piece on Ofcom’s first major international survey of communications trends, featured on Guardian Unlimited today.
Ofcoms’ figures are similar to the ICM survey for the BBC, confirming; a third of British internet users watch less television once they have broadband, and 27% read fewer national newspapers.
The research also confirms we pay less for mobile phone, TV and internet services in the UK than our friends in Europe and the US.
Ofcom’s research goes beyond Europe, considering territories such as China, Japan and the US. China in particular offers some interesting stats, for example:
- Broadband penetration in China is running at just 12% but the overall market is massive. There are 43m Chinese households online, nearly twice the size of the entire UK market.
- China’s broadband users are more willing to embrace new technologies and services than people in Europe, the US and Japan
This shouldn’t be all doom and gloom for TV and newspapers, of course things are going to change, we’ve been discussing and predicting that for years.
Both mediums are beginning to integrate with the internet and those that accepted the web early as a partner rather than a competitor, are already reaping the rewards.
The bottom line is all types of communications need to evolve to survive and ultimately there will be casualties, but if our consumption of, and access to, information is rising surely we are doing the right thing.
November 29th, 2006
BT’s next-generation communications network, that will replace the copper wires that we’ve lived with for the past 100+ years, was debuted in the Welsh village of Wick yesterday.
BT has a habit of picking unlikely places for its technology trials. Read more about the first IP phone call made across the 21CN network between an 11-year-old resident and a bishop on ZDNet UK.
The network upgrade will cost around £10bn, and the completion date is been extended to 2011 after BT admitted that the programme should have taken 10 years.
Online video takes a bite out of TV
November 27th, 2006
According to an ICM survey for the BBC, online video viewing is beginning to reflect negatively on TV viewing habits.
To be precise, the survey confirms 43% of Britons who watch online video (via internet or mobile devices) at least once a week, watch less traditional TV as a result.
The survey also points out that online and mobile viewing is on the increase with 75% of users saying they now watched more than they did a year ago.
Makes sense so far…
However, these viewers are stuck in the minority, with just 9% of the sample saying they view online video regularly.
- 13% said they watched occasionally
- 10% expect to start within a year
- Two-thirds did not watch online and did not expect to start doing so over the next 12 months
This trend is linked to age, confirming online video remains most popular with younger age groups.
On the face of it the lack of take up is disappointing, but the figures are sure to change as traditional TV pushes more content online, which will in turn push the traditional viewer online.
I expect to see online video increase in popularity regardless of age, just as the popularity of social networking has crossed the age divide.
November 24th, 2006
This week’s Popbitch email gives details of a new TV show, Totally Viral, which will debut on UKTV G2 on Monday at 10:30pm.
Dubbed a “a technicolor cacophony of weirdness from the internet” by the UKTV press office, the programme promises to be a fusion of user-generated video and the most popular viral content from the web. For a sneek preview of some of the first clips, check out the trailer on the UKTV site.
It had to happen. In the same way that online advertisers are trying to reap the benefits of social media and viral content, broadcasters are similarly looking to try their luck.
Taking viral video to the TV will open up a wider mainstream audience for advertisers to reach, and so it will be interesting to see how commercial this venture becomes. To stay true to its roots, its user-generated video will need to outweigh its commercially produced viral video.
However, saying that, I found out yesterday from an expert at Spannerworks that when you type ‘advert’ into Google, the second natural search result links to the Sony Bravia advert. So if you ever doubted the popularity of commercial viral video, that says it all!
1% of Internet Users download podcasts…every day
November 22nd, 2006
According to the latest US research from Pew Internet & American Life project just 1% of Internet users download podcasts on a daily basis.
However, 12% of Internet users confirmed they had downloaded a podcast at least once, a decent improvement on April’s survey, which showed a 7% usage.
The survey includes a whole host of stats on podcasts, as overviewed below (thanks to Barrons Online for the list), showing age is not a factor, nor is income, but if you are male and have been using the Internet for more than three years you are more likely to download podcasts.
- Roughly 15% of Internet men have downloaded a podcast, versus 8% of Internet women.
- Long-time Internet users (online six years) are more than twice as likely to download podcasts than those online three years or less- 13% and 6% respectively.
- Age is not a factor: 14% of those 18-29 have downloaded a podcasts, versus 12% of 30-49 year-olds, and 12% of 50-64 year olds. The total drops to 4% for the 65+ group.
- Podcasts user span income groups: 12% of those in householders with under $30,000 in income, 13% for those with income of $75,000 or more; and similar numbers for those in between - 14% in the $30,000 to $49,999 group, and 12% in the $50,000 to $74,999 group.
- There are plenty of choices: The survey says there were under 1,000 podcasts to choose from on the podcast directory site Podcast alley in November 2004, compared with 26,000 podcasts and more than 1 million episodes now.
So what are we to read into these figures? Other than podcasts are on the rise, if still at an early phase and not yet widely used daily.
It seems Podcasts have managed to cross the economic and age divide, a recognised achievement of social media and a positive reflection on access to information via the web.