How we watch:
TVs are losing viewers to computers, phones
Less than a quarter of television viewers around the world prefer to watch shows on regular TV monitors, a dramatic drop that reflects the increasing use of computers and smartphones for entertainment, according to a survey released Monday.
The report from Accenture, a business strategy and technology consulting firm, said the percentage of people surveyed online last fall in 26 countries who said the TV monitor was their first choice dropped by 55 percent compared with a year earlier.
Only 25 percent of Americans said they prefer viewing on TVs, compared with 59 percent just a year ago, Accenture said. Just 10 percent of residents in India preferred TVs, compared with 47 percent a year before.
The results were “a very, very big surprise,” said Mike Chapman, Accenture Strategy managing director and head of the Dublin, Ireland, firm’s global media and entertainment strategy practice.
Chapman said there were several
reasons for the shift, starting with the rise in the last two years of shows available for streaming through services like Sling TV or PlayStation Vue, individual network-run services like HBO Now, and the proliferation of programming offered online by traditional cable or satellite TV providers. One of the giants of the videostreaming trend is Los Gatos’ Netflix, which is just reaching 100 million subscribers.
Viewers have gravitated toward laptops, which are now designed as multimedia devices with better-resolution screens, and smartphones, which offer flexibility for watching shows on the go.
In the U.S., 31 percent of those surveyed preferred laptops or desktop computers to view TV shows, up from 22 percent from a year earlier, and 12 percent preferred smartphones, up from 8 percent in 2015. And 41 percent now use smartphones for watching shorter video clips, almost double the percentage from last year.
“We all see people now, whether they’re on trains or walking down the street or standing in line, watching video clips,” Chapman said.
San Francisco resident Evan Tamura, 31, said he still watches basketball and other sports on his regular TV. For other shows, he turns to his laptop.
“I really like the flexibility and breadth of content that is available for streaming,” Tamura said in an email. “I can watch my favorite shows while I’m on the road, or at a time that’s convenient for me. Also, I really enjoy watching Korean dramas and Japanese anime, which typically aren’t available on your traditional TV.”
TV manufacturers and retailers continue to push the latest higher-resolution monitors. But overall TV sales are flat, according to Paul Gagnon, director of TV research at IHS Markit, in large part because viewers aren’t replacing the secondary screens that used to go into children’s bedrooms and other rooms in the home.
“TV manufacturers have to figure out how to add value to the experiences beyond resolution,” Accenture’s Chapman said.
The shift also comes at a time when U.S. consumers are cutting the cord with traditional cable and satellite services. Convergence, a Canadian research and consulting firm that has tracked the industry for two decades, said traditional U.S. pay TV services lost 2 million customers in 2016 and figure to lose another 2 million this year.
Convergence President Brahm Eiley also said the prevalence of online video is helping to accelerate a revolution in viewing habits, especially among younger generations who have grown up with the Internet.
“For a lot of people in America under 40 or 45 — they operate so differently than the older generations,” Eiley said. “They don’t consume TV in the same way their parents consumed.”