More than one in seven Australians watch no commercial TV on a weekday — twice the number as in 2008.
That looks set to increase in 2016, with TV watchers getting older and SVOD only getting bigger, the latest data from Roy Morgan Research shows.
Seven years ago, only 6.9 percent of Australians aged 14+ watched no commercial TV on a normal weekday, with little difference between age groups.
That has since doubled to 14.9 percent, and the gap is widening between demographics, with 14-34 year-olds turning their backs en-masse.
In 2015, over one in five 25-34 year-olds watched no commercial TV, almost three times more than in 2008, while 18.8 percent of 14-24 year-olds don’t watch any commercial TV, up from 7 percent in 2008.
Older viewers are migrating from commercial television more slowly:
14.1 percent of 35-49 year-olds and 11 percent of Australians 50+ watched no commercial TV on a weekday in 2015 (up from 6.5 percent and 6.9 percent respectively).
TV still has more reach than any other medium. On an average weekday Australians view a combined 39 million hours of commercial tele.
But certain demographics are seeing the lion's share of that broadcasting.
In 2008, the biggest audience group (50+) watched only around 26 minutes more on average per day than the smallest (25-34).
In 2015, almost half of all TV watching was done by viewers aged 50+ (48.9 percent, up 6.5 percentage points from 42.4 percent in 2008).
7.7 million Australians 14+ (40 percent) now stream or download.
Among those who don't wont watch TV, 54 percent stream or download televisual content — a majority for the first time.
By the end of 2015, almost three million Australians 14+ had access to at least one SVOD service.
Those in SVOD homes watched, on average, half an hour less commercial TV on a normal weekday than those without any SVOD.
Australians aged 14-24 or 25-34 with SVOD in the home watched 13 minutes less TV per day than their counterparts without it.
The difference is even starker among older groups: 35-49 year-old subscribers watch 19 minutes less, and those 50+ watch 33 minutes less commercial TV.
18.6 percent of VOD subscribers watch no commercial TV on a normal weekday.
Roy Morgan Research's General Manager – Media, Tim Martin, said:
“Commercial television still has the biggest reach of any medium. [Yet] Commercial TV is now unable to reach around a fifth of all 14-34 year-olds, and the trend looks set to continue. In another seven years,it might well be a third. Already the very idea of ‘seeing what’s on TV’ at a particular time is beginning to seem a little archaic next to the massive libraries of niche, personally appealing content ready—by definition—on demand.
“Commercial TV networks will need to become more innovative with content and scheduling, rights deals and partnerships, how advertising is incorporated into programming. Foxtel has yet to suffer any significant drop-off in lapsed customers, with SVOD so far broadening the paid television market rather than competing with Foxtel".
“Most viewers aren’t desperate to avoid any advertising whatsoever—it’s just that there are more easy ways to circumvent it, so why not record a show and skip through ads, download it, legally or illegally, subscribe to SVOD, or simply switch attention to the tablet or phone the second an ad break arrives".
“Nine’s Stan and Seven’s Presto lag well behind Netflix in the SVOD market. After another rocky year on the ASX, 2016 may be do-or-die time for the networks to get a better, long-term understanding of how to attract and engage viewers and put the right ads in front of them. Without some self-reflection and innovation, Commercial TV could perhaps find itself as a medium only for people taking a quick channel-surfing break from the burden of choosing between all the range and quality available elsewhere".