The New Order of TV (Part I) - Greg DePalma-TiVo

My TV viewing sessions start with a familiar routine: power on the television and click the TiVo playlist of recorded sitcoms, late night talk shows, and movies. My movie preferences are nicely organized in folders named Mouse House Movies (Disney for my kids) and AFI's Top 100 (Oscar Winners). After perusing the folders, my next stop is the Netflix instant queue, where I settle on an episode of Breaking Bad.

This routine or new order of viewing may sound familiar. Current research supports the increasing rate of broadband or so-called Over-The-Top content adoption (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) coupled with commercial avoidance. A recent Wall Street Journal article, "Binge Viewing: TV's Lost Weekends," referenced a new type of couch potato. Binge or Marathon viewing is described within the article as watching a TV show's complete season in one uninterrupted session or over a weekend. When I first subscribed to Netflix streaming, I recall watching the first season of ABC's Lostover a weekend. I made it through the next three seasons in about two weeks (I lost interest somewhere in season five). With young children, my marathons now revolve mostly around various Disney programs.

TiVo Research and Analytics, Inc. is keeping tabs on how video is being watched differently today. TiVo surveyed 45,000 customers about several viewing options. Fifty four percent of viewers reported watching Netflix in the last month, followed in popularity by Amazon, video on demand via cable service providers, iTunes, and Hulu.

Percent of TiVo customers that watched in the last month

Source: TiVo StopWatch, January 2012 (data to be updated with past month in Part II blog)

Among the 54% who watch Netflix, 29% watched more than ten hours in a month.

In comparison, the majority of Video on Demand viewers (44%) watched between one and three hours over the same month – in effect one or two movies.

This data prompts the next question clients ask: "How is Netflix affecting viewing to programs that are available on TV and Netflix - is it a zero sum game?"

Stay tuned for The New Order of TV (Part II). We will investigate these follow-up questions with updated data for the charts above and program specific analyses.

Greg DePalma is Vice President of Audience Insights at TiVo Inc., where he consults with advertiser, agency, and network clients to increase commercial effectiveness in a DVR world. Greg can be reached at gdepalma@tivo.com.

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