Over The Air and Cable TV: Far From Dead
80% of people still prefer to watch TV programs on a big screen, rather than mobile,
tablet or PC, according to new research from BroadStream Solutions
Atlanta, GA 13 July 2014: With many cable, satellite and TV service providers now offering consumers the opportunity to watch movies, TV shows, sports, and more on their mobile devices, industry pundits are quick to prophesize “the end of broadcast TV as we know it”. However, new research from global broadcast solutions provider BroadStream Solutions, reveals that despite the growth in TV viewing via PC, tablet and smartphones, 80% of American say they prefer to watch television, on a television.
The survey, which as conducted for BroadStream by market research firm YouGov, also showed that when it comes to real quality entertainment and engagement for what consumers refer to as their “favorite shows”, nothing beats live TV delivered via set top box or antenna. When asked what devices they used to watch live TV in the past year, 82 % of American viewers said they still regularly use their television set, compared to only 14% who use a laptop, 10% a desktop, 8% a mobile phone and 7% a tablet.
The survey also revealed that the majority of viewers (64%) still like to watch their favorite shows in groups i.e. families and friends sitting down together to watch, as has been done for years. In terms of the younger generation, live or linear TV is considered just another stream in their digital lives with about 1 in every 4 young adults (18 to 34), saying they also use their tablet or mobile device while watching television.
"The good news for broadcasters is that live TV still offers a clear advantage to viewers in terms of quality, screen size (thanks to low TV prices), and pure quality content," says Ben Wolk, President- Sales and Marketing at BroadStream Solutions. The high demand for content is still growing and more channels are needed to target the precise viewing needs of individual consumers, whether it is hyper local channels in their community or town, or a dedicated channel on a specific topic of interest."
"The real problem for broadcasters is how to put in place a technology infrastructure that allows them to support this increasing need for content and offer more without breaking the bank and taking up a huge amount of space in the process. We believe that modern, software-based playout systems such as IPS (integrated playout systems) can do much more than traditional hardware-based infrastructures: they take much less space, and are more cost efficient than ever before," adds Wolk.
For more information on BroadStream solutions, please visit: http://www.broadstream.com/
About BroadStream Solutions
BroadStream Solutions (www.broadstream.com) is a broadcast solutions provider specializing in the playout of linear television channels and news production tools for global broadcasters, systems integrator and technical partners. Built on foundations of development expertise and dependability, we offer our clients peace of mind. BroadStream’s vision is to become the #1 linear television playout solutions provider and to better serve our customers by offering pioneering technology and delivering industry-leading customer service.
In June 2014, BroadStream Solutions acquired OASYS, the pioneers of automated playout software technology. Already under common ownership, the time was right to bring the organisations and the Intellectual Property of the companies together. The owners have combined all of the operations under a global holding company, with regional sales and support offices servicing customers locally, offering a complete range of playout solutions for News, Live Production, Turnaround Operations and Master Control. BroadStream Solutions will serve additional global markets, while also better positioning the multi-award winning OASYS products in the US.
