Monday, January 30, 2006
Television Audiences Will Change
byA thorough and interesting new report was just released by IBM Consulting Services. Titled The End of Television As We Know It, the report forecasts a major shift in television audiences in the next few years. Television audiences of the past have often been cast as passive “couch potatoes” that absorb television content in their family rooms within the limitations of how and when it is provided. According to the IBM report, the future television audience will split into two main groups. One segment will be today’s more passive group, but the other quickly growing segment will be a younger audience demanding television (video) content anywhere, anytime, and they will be completely indifferent as to how they recieve that content (TVs, Web, iPods, etc.).
The report’s authors predict that a “generational chasm” will separate these two major segments. The older, traditional TV audience will remain more passive, while younger TV generations gravitate more toward the on-demand content model. This will cause more complexity for marketers who, in the past, viewed TV as a mass media platform.
A quote from the report’s summary highlights the reasons behind this profound change, “Today, audiences are becoming increasingly fragmented, splicing their time among myriad media choices, channels and platforms. For the last few decades, consumers have migrated to more specialized, niche content via cable and multichannel offerings. Now, with the growing availability of on demand, self-programming and search features, some experiencers are moving beyond niche to individualized viewing. With increasing competition from convergence players in TV, telecommunications and the Internet, the industry is confronting unparalleled complexity, dynamic change and pressure to innovate.”
This sweeping change can create complexity for marketers and advertisers, and it is all the more reason that strong, compelling and contextually relevant ideas will be needed to reach and affect audiences in all segments. It also demonstrates that creativity in reaching these dynamic new audiences will be every bit as important as creativity in the message itself.
