Television is set to be the dominant media in Australia though it is facing some challenges from social media claims consulting company Deloitte.
According to Damien Tampling, Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications leader in Australia the TV industry will face rising challenges from both social networks and consumers who record content onto storage devices such as PVRs. However he said that there was no reliable statistics on how much “paid for” Internet content was being downloaded in Australia.
He also predicted that Wi Fi, in particular, home Wi Fi was set to grow in Australia.
“Social networks are expected to surpass one billion unique members globally this year. Despite such challenges, we expect television’s global audience and revenues will continue to grow in 2011 and beyond” he said.
“Of course, other media sectors will not be standing idle. The global market for computer and video games will grow and evolve, with increasing emphasis on new business models such as monthly subscriptions and ‘freemium’ content” he added.
At a briefing in Sydney today he said that the music industry will continue to be shaped by the digital download revolution, which is pushing physical music distribution into niches such as ‘pop up’ music outlets for special events, and increasing the importance of live performances as a source of revenues and promotion.
In 2011, television will continue to lead all media in total revenues, which include advertising sales, subscriptions, pay-per-view, and license fees. Television’s share of audience attention will expand with the global television audience likely to increase by 40 million to 3.7 billion viewers.
Even then, half of the world’s population will remain untapped, leaving significant room for continued growth. Viewing per person is forecast to rise modestly to three hours and 12 minutes per day, compared to 33 minutes per day spent on the Internet.
The Deloitte data which appears to be sourced primarily from the UK and US markets, as opposed to Australia, claims that consumers by majority are still watching TV programs complete with 30 second commercials.
Deloitte claims that by the end of 2011, more than 50 percent of television owners in the U.S. and U.K. will likely own a digital video recorder. In Australia according to GFK data 60 percent of Australians already use some form of digital video recorder whether it be a Foxtel, TiVo, Topfield or Beyondwiz device.
The global consulting company said that the impact of DVR sales on television advertising is expected to be minimal since most DVR owners will likely continue watching the vast majority of their television live, dominated by “appointment to watch” programs, such as sports, talent shows, soap operas, reality shows, or news.
This type of programming usually crowds out time available to watch pre-recorded content. Even when viewers fast-forward programs, the ads are not wasted; studies show that ads viewed at 12x speed are still retained by viewers.
