How is TV coping with the changing ad landscape?

Posted by Adrian Scott on May 10, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

Convergence is transforming the way broadcasters make money out of TV. Traditional TV ads are holding their own (for now) but none the less innovation is key.

This interesting article on the excellent TVGenius blog discusses some of the ways the innovation is happening…

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Get me to the market on time! Is YouView missing the boat?

Posted by Adrian Scott on March 15, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

According to a UK analyst, the YouView initiative is taking so long to reach fruition that the whole project is under threat of becoming obsolete before it’s even launched.  This is despite the recent “You’re Hired!” moment involving Sir Alan Sugar.

Read all about it here

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What next for Avid?

Posted by Adrian Scott on December 21, 2010 · 3 Comments 

Avid Technology is a company with a lot of meaning for all of us in MAC.  Graham Sharp, Adrian Scott and Jesper Rossing have worked for Avid in various roles; Tom Wragg and Ted Taylor have been important customers; one way or the other, Avid has been an important factor in all of our professional lives.

So we keep an eye on what is happening there.

In recent years, Avid, once such a dominant player, has tried everything in its power to right what is seemingly a permanently listing ship. Acquisitions, product re-positionings, management reshuffles, layoffs, new head office…they’ve tried it all.

But is it working? Chairman and CEO Gary Greenfield says his biggest challenge at the moment is educating the market about what Avid stands for. “Another Version In Development” is the old joke, but can Gary develop a new corporate strategy and raise Avid to greatness again? Or is he positioning Avid for a sell-off? And if so who would buy?

Read more here from Mike Grotticelli in Broadcasting Engineering…

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Google TV: not ready for prime time, now or ever?

Posted by Adrian Scott on November 22, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

Recent articles in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are quite rude about Google TV, casting doubt on whether it is or ever will be viable. “Google TV may be interesting to technophiles, but it’s not for average people” is a typical comment.

An interesting article about this is on appmarket.tv, a site offering analysis and news on media convergence.

Read it here

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Introduction to SNG and ENG microwave, Jonathan Higgins

Posted by Graham Sharp on February 8, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

The definitive work on SNG and ENG Broadcasting – a must read for those of you in this field.

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Anthony Flannery, Head of News and Current Affairs, TVNZ

Posted by admin on February 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

“MAC  provided insight, industry expertise and clarity. They speak the language of our business and helped turn our vision into reality.”

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Broadcast schedules continue to dominate viewing – Deloitte article

Posted by Graham Sharp on January 25, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

People will continue to consume most audio and video according to a linear broadcast schedule, despite the
availability of on-demand alternatives. Deloitte predicts that through 2010 over 90% of all television
watched and over 80% of all audio content consumed will be from traditional broadcast. It concludes that
advertisers should not necessarily accept the common perception that television audiences are in long-term
decline.
“The sovereignty of the schedule runs counter to many commentators’ expectations,” observes Deloitte in
its Media Predictions 2010. Although many industry executives and their families and friends may already
largely bypass broadcast schedules, these still dominate the mass market.
Average television viewing is between 20 to 30 hours a week in most major markets, compared to 1.5 to 2
hours for all forms of nonlinear viewing, including DVD, DVR, or VOD.
The supremacy of the schedule is put down to “ease of use and inertia”. For some the ability to choose
what and when to watch or hear is a necessity, but for those that are less constrained by time, choosing
programmes one-by-one is “tedious and superfluous”.
It is proposed that the availability of on-demand can actually increase the demand for scheduled
programming, as catch-up services encourage people to watch or listen to the next scheduled broadcast.
The emphasis on on-demand and the supposed imminent demise of linear broadcasting are put down to
misinterpretation of market data. This includes self-reported surveys in which respondents tend to reflect
an idealised view rather than their actual viewing and listening habits. This may overstate the use of new
media and new devices, while overlooking hours spent with traditional media, such as listening to the radio
while commuting. Industry metrics for online viewing are also not directly comparable with those for
broadcasting.
“It may be that in the long run, the majority of all audio and video consumed will be nonlinear,” concedes
Deloitte, but rather than resenting the “tyranny of the schedule,” hundreds of millions of individuals will
continue to spend at least 40% of their waking hours watching television or listening to the radio in the
traditional manner.
The lesson from this is that consumers do not necessarily embrace the possibilities of new technology and
the behaviours of early adopters do not always become mainstream. However, consumers will value and
pay for the availability of choice and even appear content to purchase devices and subscribe to services
that they hardly ever use.
These and other predictions from Deloitte are consistent with the cautions that informitv has often issued
to media and technology companies that are convinced consumers will want to watch whatever they want,
whenever they want, wherever they want. The irony is that the mass market is actually driven by people
being told what they want, and when and where they can get it, generally by the mass media.
Technologists often tend to overstate the pace of change. This is particularly notable of male, middle class,
middle aged executives who by their own admission do not watch much television and appeal to
observations of their teenage children, who may be equally unrepresentative of the population as a whole.
The key to understanding changing consumer behaviour is sociology as much as technology. The reasons
that people watch television or listen to the radio are largely social, to do with a need for connection with a
wider community. While new communications technologies, such as the internet, can fulfil this in new
ways, traditional broadcast media remain remarkably powerful means to inform, educate and entertain, to
contribute to the narrative and structure of our lives, and it seems there is little immediate sign of this
changing.
www.deloitte.com
Copyright © 2010 informitv
All rights reserved.
ISSN 1759-8796
informitv.com

http://informitv.com/news/2010/01/20/broadcastschedulescontinue/

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