VOD figures pad overall TV viewership numbers: TVB

The Television Bureau of Canada has released what it says are the first statistics on viewership of broadcast distributors’ video-on-demand (VOD) platforms, which show an additional four to nine per cent of viewers use VOD to watch TV series. TVB said an additional nine per cent of the sitcoms’ live TV audience watched the shows on VOD, while prime-time dramas had an additional audience of six per cent and daytime programs had an additional four per cent. Of those additional VOD viewers, 65 to 70 per cent hadn’t watched the program’s original broadcast on live TV, it said in a press release. Theresa Treutler, TVB’s president and CEO, noted that “there’s been no shortage of commentary in the past about how viewership to linear television is declining,” a decline that in 2013-2014, according to TVB, amounted to 1.1 per cent for those over the age of 18. “That’s just one part of the story,” she said in a phone interview, adding that more TV viewing is now happening on different platforms and screens. “And so what’s important about this VOD test is that it’s really the first step toward the capturing of viewing of television content outside of linear.” Treutler added that the test was limited to set-top boxes offered by cable, satellite and IPTV providers, and that “there are other VOD platforms that we have yet to measure,” such as websites or apps directly offered by broadcasters. It was conducted by ratings measurement group Numeris, formerly BBM Canada, and measured viewing habits between March and June of this year. Duncan Robertson, TVB’s director of media insights and research, added in the same interview that, until now, companies have used their own survey data to look at VOD viewing, numbers that weren’t shared across the industry. He said the test shows the addition of VOD viewership “could certainly offset any migration from linear,” though he added that to reach that conclusion, “you’d have to make some big assumptions,” such as applying the average added audience measured in the test to all VOD viewing. Duncan said the results were “pleasing.” “There’s definitely an audience there,” he said, adding that it’s an engaged audience that wasn’t leaving the TV set or changing the channel during the commercials, though the report issued by Numeris noted that could have been due to the fast-forward and rewind functions being disabled. The report added that VOD viewers “were slightly more likely to be female and more likely to be in the 35-49 and 25-34 year-old age groups,” as well as less likely to be unemployed. While data on VOD viewership wasn’t previously released publicly, the CRTC does collect and publish information about VOD libraries and revenues. Earlier this year, it said revenues for VOD services fell nearly 3.6 per cent in 2013, to $254.5 million, marking a change from the revenue increases reported for the previous four years. Revenues were down despite more content being available; between 2012 and 2013 providers invested in increasing their VOD libraries, with availability of titles doubling across Canada’s eight largest TV providers. — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca

VOD figures pad overall TV viewership numbers: TVB

Broadcast | October 8, 2014

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VOD figures pad overall TV viewership numbers: TVB

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