TV goes beyond the box
It’s one of the defining images of the late 20th century - the family sat on their couch in front of the TV.
But it’s a picture that might need some editing for the modern era. A survey of more than 37,000 people world wide, conducted this year by SurveyMonkey for Netflix, found more than 65 per cent of people were watching movies and television on devices outside their home.
The most common places to watch television in public were on planes, in cafes and restaurants, and on public transport.
TVNZ has noticed an increase in mobile users of its own television steaming service, TVNZ OnDemand, that corresponds with the survey’s data.
The network’s chief product and information officer Kym Niblock said TVNZ audiences were consuming ‘‘more content than ever before, especially on mobile and hand-held devices’’.
She noted New Zealand telecommunications companies had been increasing the bandwidth and affordability of their services.
‘‘It’s easier than ever to stream on the move,’’ Niblock said.
‘‘If our viewers want to watch Shortland Street on the bus, or catch-up with The Walking Dead in their work lunchroom, as we know they do, then they’re able to do that.’’
A MediaWorks spokesperson said the network had seen a 25 per cent increase in users on its streaming service ThreeNow from last year, and mobile and tablet users accounted for around half of ThreeNow’s total. Watching the likes of Shortland
Street in public brings its own problems, the Netflix survey found. What if someone sees you watching something embarrassing? Forty-five per cent of the survey’s respondents said they’d caught someone watching their screen in public.
An Auckland Transport spokesperson said the organisation hadn’t notice a rise in people watching videos on public transport recently.
However, Auckland Transport’s new app has a function allowing users’ phones to notify them when the train or bus reaches their stop a handy function for those engrossed in a movie.