Number of Australians not watching commercial TV doubles in seven years to 14.9 per cent
The number of Australians who claim they don’t watch any commercial TV on weekdays has now risen to 14.9%, compared with just 6.9% seven years ago.
The finding comes from new Roy Morgan research which claims that the largest demographics reporting to not to watch commercial TV are those under 35 years of age.
Number of Australians reporting they don’t watch TV. Source: Roy Morgan.
According to the research, in 2015, ore than one in five 25 to 34 year olds (20.7%) watched no commercial TV – up almost three-fold from the 7.6% who couldn’t be reached by the channel in 2008. While among those aged 14 to 24 year old the figure was 18.8% – up from 7.0% in 2008.
I will pay not to see ads or hear them streaming…. for the same content.
The UK Freeview has the right idea, you can watch all the free to air TV channels online in the one place but viewers can also choose to subscribe to an extra 25 premium channels not available on Freeview like History channel for a small fee each month.
I think Freeview Australia should consider a similar model, it would certainly bring me back.
Sorry slight correction, its actually TVPlayer that has incorporated Freeview and the premium channels on the one site not Freeview itself.
And this is the problem. Commercial Tv is trying to compete for the viewers they have left rather than trying to win back those who have left. What’s there for the people who don’t want to watch the stripped reality formats?
Not fair. They forgot to count the people in nursing homes, and induced comas, who watch the “Today” show.
Seriously, who watchs the news at 6pm? People who do not have the internet?
20% of 14-34 year olds watch no sport on Commercial TV?
How do you know that someone doesn’t watch commercial TV?
Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.
If broadcast TV stopped force fitting its old model into the digital space it would maintain relevancy. unfortunately with the long form content still carrying multiple ads and interrupting the content constantly it is a really poor value proposition. No doubt the younger demos are watching content online – look at the growth of SVOD long form growth (no ads) and streaming ad funded short form.
“Most viewers aren’t desperately trying to avoid any advertising whatsoever, …”
It would be instructive to know if that statement is empirically-based and if so what the question was.
If Roy Morgan survey people ask me or most of the people I know why they don’t watch commercial TV, we’d say that the ads are so numerous and frequent that it is painful to try to watch anything on Australian commercial TV. Again we tried to endure the tennis on Seven but gave up due to the wall of sound and visual pollution of ad breaks every few minutes and, worse still, the ads during the coverage with crass graphics and cheap and nasty sponsorship of just about everything. Then there’s the likes of sometime great tennis player Hewitt who is interviewing a tennis star one minute and the next pushing questionable (i.e. largely useless) supplements the next: in similar surroundings and clothing. One wonders why they can’t just sell more focus and quality to the main sponsors (Rolex, KIA, ANZ) for bigger bucks and de-clutter. That way I reckon they’d deliver and sustain more viewers. But back to the general. AU commercial TV is unwatchable not because it has ads but because it kicks the arse out of ads and is well and truly killing the goose that could still lay golden eggs if it was properly cared for.
Spoke to my Mum on the weekend, she could not believe young people did not watch TV, an early twenties work experience girl said to me a month or two ago ” only old people watch TV.
I’d like to know what the 16-25yr old stats are, I’d reckon it’s around +40% that don’t watch commercial telly, and would rather go to sporting events than watch them on tv.
I give it under ten years and maybe they’ll call up Gyngell to sign it off.
I agree with @david, lost opportunity.