Sunday, April 29, 2012

Media Consumption Habits Continue to Shift: NYT

A recent article in the New York Times by Bill Carter reported on the "case of the disappearing viewer." It seems that in a four week period beginning March 19th, all major television outlets (network, cable, public television, Spanish-language) experienced significant drops in viewership for prime-time programs from the previous year, especially among young adults.

According to Carter, NBC lost 3%, (in the 18-to-49 age category), CBS lost 8%, ABC lost 21%, and Fox lost 20%. And the drop-off has been across both popular and less popular programs. There is always a drop in the spring as longer days and better weather lures viewers outside. But not this precipitous. Other reasons have been floated. The weakening of Fox's "American Idol"' which has been a huge draw in previous years was one reason. But the real reason seems to be the use of DVRs and the ability to save and sort programs and only watch the new episodes when one is available rather than tuning in each week to see whether or not a new episode is airing. Jeff Gaspin, former head of entertainment at NBC calls the drop-off in viewers "the cumulative effect of nonlinear viewing." Viewers now go to their libraries on their DVRs rather than tuning into a live program.

Digital devices give viewers (and readers of books and other content) the ability to consume media on their terms. They can search and save, they can call up from their libraries, they can search topics within books and pull out the material that answers their needs. Content providers must recognize this new landscape and provide more segmented content that is available when and where the consumer needs it.

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