Television and Behavior:

Our Future is Our Past

Jack Powers

Television-Radio Department

Ithaca College

Understanding TV Behavior

• Why do people watch TV?• When do they watch and how much time is

devoted?• How often will people watch TV outside the

home?• How does TV fit into peoples’ schedules?• How will these viewing patterns translate to

HH devices, if at all?

Why do people watch TV?

• 1) Diversion– To escape our problems and stress

• 2) Social Comparison– How do we measure up to others?

• 3) Keeping aware of what’s happening in the world– News, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, etc.

Types of Viewing

• Ritualistic

• Watching is determined by available time• We choose an acceptable program• Most of our TV viewing is ritualistic

Types of Viewing

• Instrumental

• Driven by desire to see particular content• If not available, individual won’t watch• We are all, at times, instrumental viewers• Counts for less of the audience and less

viewing time than ritualistic viewers

How much TV and when?

• In era of digital media, TV viewing is at an all-time high

• KFF reports that the amount of time kids spent watching regularly scheduled TV declined, BUT overall consumption of TV has increased to 4.5 hours per day.

When do we watch TV?

• Patterns that influence viewing include:• The life span• Seasonal variation• Weekly cycle• Daily cycle

Scheduling

• Old model of video distribution based on “movie theater” paradigm-- programs scheduled at specific times to attract audiences

• Time-shifting is having a real effect.

• Always an assumption that people watched at home and in the evenings.

Non-traditional viewing

• Viewing outside the home accounts for nearly 10% of all viewing

• More than 1/3 of adults report watching TV outside the home

• 41% (almost 2 hours per day) of 8-18 year-olds time-shift their TV viewing.

How will these patterns affect TV’s future?

• Many major players in mobile-TV market (HH devices, laptops, etc.) seem to be completely unaware of the research on why and how people watch TV.

• Making many faulty assumptions.

FLO TV Promo:

• Imagine a world where consumers are able to have live television delivered to their wireless mobile devices at all times. Wherever they go and whenever they want it. No more missing their favorite show while waiting in the airport, or on the train. No more missing their favorite baseball game, or their favorite radio talk show. The ability to stay tuned in to everything you care about – when you care about it (Qualcomm, 2005).

Future, cont.

• FLO TV has announced that it is ending its service

• Watching live TV on HH devices is unlikely to catch on

• HH devices are far more instrumental/interactive

• On-demand, short clips, highlights-- all appropriate (keeping up with what’s going on)

Conclusion

• Knowing how and why we have watched TV in the past is crucial to our understanding of how we’ll be watching TV in the future (in light of all the new technology).