Numbers Game -- Content Still Holds the Throne. But Where are the Loyal Subjects?

More than ever, content is still king. The growing challenge, however, is figuring out how best to track the viewers of that content to mobile and other digital platforms. There are more mobile viewers than ever, and at all age ranges. What we need to continually get a better handle on is: How and where are they watching all that content?

The Council for Research Excellence (CRE) recently released its "TV Untethered" study, conducted with the Boston-based research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey; from it, we learned more about video consumption on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets and computers), especially relative to how these devices affect and relate to viewing on a TV set. One thing the report refutes is the exasperating suggestion that "young people aren't watching TV." Pundits continue to imply this notion repeatedly, despite greater evidence that overall TV viewing is expanding. The fact is: Young people are watching more television. Our findings indicate that even 15-to-24-year-olds are watching a hefty 32 hours (median) of TV per week -- or, only four hours less than those aged 50-64. It also illustrates that they watch much differently: Among those 32 hours, 28% is spent on devices other than a TV. A second frustration is that many still insist baby boomers are not online. This slide additionally points out that those viewers age 50-64 are transitioning to digital/mobile viewing, with 9% of their overall media consumption occurring on mobile and digital devices in the spring of 2013, and I suggest that number will only grow. Possibly most important, we gathered further evidence of increased "TV viewing" -- using the term broadly:

• Mobile devices let people watch different shows at the same time (e.g., one person watching the television, another watching separate programming on a tablet), which opens the door to a new definition of "coviewing"
• Viewing on mobile devices happens most frequently during overnight (17%) and late fringe (12%) -- times of traditionally lower conventional TV HUTs. The implication is pointing toward growth in overall viewing hours.
• Mobile TV viewers participating in our survey also indicated they are heavy overall TV viewers, period.
• The viewers are there. We know it. We just have to pinpoint exactly where "there" is.

[Laura Cowan is Research Director, LIN Media, and Chair, Council for Research Excellence's Media Consumption & Engagement Committee] (Nov 21)