Mobile devices and DVRs shifting global media consumption

Consumers are watching an enormous amount of video, in some surprising ways and in unexpected places, reveals Motorola Mobility's fourth annual Media Engagement Barometer, an independent global study of video consumption habits among 9,500 consumers in 17 countries.

The study  examined new and emerging content trends, such as multi-screen habits and recording behaviours, which are dramatically shifting the way audiences are consuming video.

Notably, these trends reveal consumer frustration with the delivery of video content – a prime opportunity for service providers to deliver content experiences in the new multi-screen environment that are free of traditional boundaries and complexity.

Highlights of the Motorola Mobility Media Engagement Barometer:

• Consumers around the world are watching an average of 25 hours of TV programming and film content a week. Film viewing has risen from 5 to 6 hours. TV  viewing is up from 10 hours in 2011 to 19 hours this year
• Recording behaviours are now a constant of the content experience – but content is being forgotten; almost a third (29 per cent) of weekly TV viewing is of recorded content, but almost a third of recorded content is also never watched
• The living room remains the epicenter of the home content experience, but the multi-screen home is now a reality; the study shows the impact of laptops, tablets and smartphones – on viewing throughout the home
• Consumers want to be able to move content between devices more easily; 76 per cent would be interested in a service that automatically loaded content a user liked to their mobile phone or tablet, to enjoy when on the move

John Burke, senior vice president and general manager, converged solutions, Motorola Mobility, says the study showed that consumers take their viewing experiences very seriously.

"They want to be firmly in control of the way they experience their videos, but they're frustrated. Increasingly, they're using tablets and smartphones to view their content, and they expect this experience to transition seamlessly across their favourite programmes, whenever and wherever they like," Burke says.

He says Motorola was enabling this shift through innovation in the cloud, the network and the home. "We're delivering content experiences free of boundaries, complexity and impairment.''

The study shows that the average consumer watches 19 hours of TV content and six hours of movie content a week – totalling just over one day of content a week.

• The US sees the highest consumption, with 23 hours of TV and six hours of movies watched each week
• The lowest TV consumption is seen in Sweden and Japan at 15 hours and two hours respectively

Tablets eclipse broadcast for content in the bedroom. The living room is the centre of home entertainment consumption, but consumers are taking advantage of the ability to watch the content they like in multiple rooms throughout the home, even in unexpected places.

• 50 per cent watch broadcast TV in the living room, which is the highest in Sweden (81 per cent), the UK (75 per cent) and Australia (68 per cent)
• 36 per cent of consumers globally are watching broadcast TV in the master bedroom, and countries with above-average consumption in the bedroom include Argentina (62 per cent), the US (54 per cent) and Russia (49 per cent)

Smartphones and tablets are driving most multi-room content behaviour – they are watched more than broadcast TV in the bedroom (46 per cent and 41 per cent versus 36 per cent). These portable devices are also used in less-conventional rooms; 10 per cent of tablets are used in the kitchen.

Tablet owners are the hungriest for content
In general, tablet users could be described as 'super users:' watching more content on their own terms than non-tablet users.

• On average, tablet owners watch 6.7 hours of movies a week versus the average of 5.5 of non-tablet owners
• Tablet users are more likely than non-tablet owners to use a service provider's TV catch-up service (47 per cent versus 31 per cent). 80 per cent of a tablet user's content is recorded, versus 65 per cent of non-tablet owners

DVR killed the Linear Star? Not quite yet... a third of weekly content is recorded:

• Almost a third (29 per cent) of all weekly content consumed is recorded. But live viewing still dominates – particularly with News – which is watched by 73 per cent as it airs.
• Though DVR owners tend to watch an average of one hour more content a week, a third (36 per dent) of all content recorded is never actually viewed.
• The US is the most wasteful content market, with 41 per cent of recorded content never being consumed.

The study explains why people record content:

• 77 per cent record because there is other content airing at the same time, which the viewer would prefer to watch live
• 72 per cent are hoarders – recording to collect the box-set
• 68 per cent globally record to skip advertisements on commercial channels, rising to 75 per cent and 74 per cent in the UK and US, respectively

With so many reasons to record content, it is understandable that the current hard drive limitations of DVRs cause frustration. Sixty-eight percent of consumers globally complain of having had to delete content because they have run out of storage room on their device. Seventy-nine per cent say this has caused frustration in their homes. Women are more often frustrated than men by needing to remove recordings they have stored (26 per cent versus 23 per cent).

Three quarters of users  want content loaded onto mobile devices:
Consumers across the globe are storing content on devices to watch when away from home – but the study shows this experience could be made easier. Seventy-six per cent would be interested in a service that automatically loaded content a user liked to his/her mobile phone or tablet, to enjoy when on the move.

• Currently, 55 per cent have downloaded or stored a TV programme or film on at least one device
• 73 per cent of global respondents have a laptop, versus 60 per cent and 26 per cent who own smartphones or tablets
• Majority of US (71 per cent), UAE (79 per cent) and Turkish (85 per cent) respondents would be interested in this service
• Consumers in France, UK and Germany are less keen on this, with only 50 per ent, 47 per cent and 41 per cent saying they would be interested in this sort of service

Younger audiences more likely to engage with programming via social media:
Fifty per cent of global consumers do not follow social media conversations about a TV programme on a companion device while watching a program, but younger audiences are more inclined to interact – 60 per cent of 16-24-year-olds do follow social conversations during programming.

Some countries revealed year-on-year declines in those following social media conversation online:

• The UK falls from 39 per cent in 2010 to 24 per cent in 2012; the US falls from 32 per cent to 23 per cent
• Increases were seen in Turkey, 44 per cent in 2010 to 55 per cent in 2012; and in the UAE, rising from 60 per cent to 64 per cent

Though it appears the majority do not avidly follow online chatter, people are more likely to use social media channels to recommend content than they are to make oral recommendations (38 per cent versus 34 per cent).

The study also shows potential to use social media to further deepen audience interaction and sharing.

Seventy-eight per cent would be interested in linking their social network profile to a TV service to share what they are watching and increase online, real-time discussion.