Australians on board with DTT, slow to watch videos on multiscreens

DTT, which launched in Australia in 2006, has taken a few years to get up to speed, with only 75 per cent of households embracing it in 2010. As of the end of last year however, 70 per cent of all households have DTT on every TV in the home, compared with 55 per cent in Q12011.

This, combined with the presence of time-shifting devices such as PVRs in 44 per cent of households, has resulted in Australians watching more than 6.5 hours of additional television a month in Q42011 than a year previously. About 12 hours of that viewing time is spent watching playback (recorded) TV content, according to the study.

The study also found that while mobile and internet-enabled devices, along with improved internet connectivity, are creating new opportunities to view video content, few Australians are watching videos across multiple devices. On average, the combination of extended screens (PC and mobile phones) for video content still accounts for only 4 per cent as much video consumption as on traditional TVs. There is some growth in online video viewing, however, with Australians averaging about 3.5 hours a month watching online video in Q42011, up from just over 2 hours in Q1.

Despite the ability of many DTT boxes to project content onto internet devices, when offered a choice between screens, Australians will generally choose the largest one available—namely the TV screen. Nevertheless, users now spend on average 1 hour and 20 minutes per month watching video (any online video) on their mobile phones, compared with just 35 minutes in Q12011. This category is led by users aged 18 to 34.

Tablets too are slowly gaining in popularity, with an estimated 10 per cent of metro households owning at least one tablet device. Watching video content on tablets has also grown from 2 per cent of the total online population at the end of 2010 to 5 per cent by the end if 2011.

“New technology and devices are adding to, rather than replacing, Australians’ TV-viewing,” concluded Matt Bruce, head of Nielsen’s media industry practice group in Australia.