Use of the third screen isn’t at the expense of the tube: YTV

Contrary to all the talk of the constantly increasing migration of eyeballs from the television to computers – including a request from the Governor-in-Council that the CRTC prepare a report examining the impact on Canada’s broadcasting environment in the face of new technologies (CNM, Sept. 20/2006) – the Tween Media Usage report commissioned by Corus Entertainment Inc.’s YTV and performed by Solutions Research Group finds that the Internet has had a negligible impact on the tube.According to Nielsen Media Research data included in the report, TV viewing among the kids demographic (seven to 12 year olds) has remained constant for the past decade. And in terms of daily media consumption, TV is outpacing the Internet at a rate of 2.6 to 1.6 hours per day. That’s not to say that time in front of the third screen isn’t increasing at a healthy rate, it just doesn’t seem to be happening at the expense of television viewing time."We’ve sort of always been operating under the assumption, and it seems to be supported from what I thought, that people were definitely moving away from television," says Michael McGuigan, director of new media at Breakthrough New Media (BNM) as well as CFO of its parent company Breakthrough Films & Television. Breakthrough produces the Captain Flamingo animated series, the second season of which just got underway on YTV, as well as associated online and interactive properties.McGuigan takes the data with a grain of salt, but admits it would likely force a change in Breakthrough’s business if it proves to be founded. "It’s something I’d like to learn more about and have other studies done," he says. "If you found that they all supported this I think you’d have to make business decisions based on this. It certainly flies in the face of what people have been spouting the last couple of years."Indeed, those directing interactive media divisions with the notion that online content is gradually replacing television would likely alter their strategies somewhat if presented with conclusive data showing that the Internet is purely complementary to TV. McGuigan, however, says BNM develops its kids’ properties in a mutually supportive multi-platform manner already."I don’t think you can put anything on – it certainly should be keeping in the spirit of whatever the show that it’s supporting," he says. "It should be ancillary to it in the sense that it offers something new and different. So I don’t see that just streaming old episodes or pieces of episodes is enough. You need other things whether it’s games and contests and activity-based things depending on the age group." Although many broadcasters’ websites, as well as unaffiliated sites like YouTube, show entire episodes of television shows, the computer has a way to go before it replicates the co-viewing environment established by TV over the past 60 years. And with most of the online content relating to TV shows being value-added material thus far, the study’s results raise the possibility that the Internet has actually helped keep TV viewership numbers steady, as opposed to eating away at them. It’s an idea McGuigan doesn’t dismiss: "I could see kids that watch a TV show and then find out more about it on the Web, it might keep them coming back to watch the show more often than if they’d just forgot about it during the rest of the week when it’s not on."Laura Baehr, VP of marketing, kids’ television at YTV, concurs. "Obviously a huge marketing tool for us to let people know about new shows, let people know about time changes, let kids be able to access schedules and new character information and episode synopses," she says. Baehr adds that the survey didn’t tell YTV anything that it didn’t already know, but rather it helped the broadcaster illustrate that the success of the Internet does not come at the cost of television. "We feel so strongly about the Internet. It’s an excellent medium and we do a ton of work there too, but very different experiences and we don’t want our best clients thinking that television isn’t the best place to be if you want mass media." Dovetailing content deliveryWhat the study also shows – for YTV as well as other broadcasters and content creators – is the degree of specificity to which online content can be geared around TV shows. One noteworthy statistic is that 34% of kids are watching TV while they are online. Ensuring that kids are on the website that complements the show they are watching could be a big coup for broadcasters. "From a synergistic standpoint, certainly there’s an opportunity to go back and forth and that’s where this rich content comes into play," says Baehr. "Whether its voting, or finding out more information when the show’s over…we definitely play back and forth a lot."The study also details that peak Internet usage occurs in the time block between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., while television’s peak period is between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. "We used to watch after-school specials," says McGuigan, " going online, then they have dinner and sit down and watch the TV from the looks of it." That knowledge also allows for Web content to complement the TV shows that kids will be watching later in the evening. "I think you could be as specific as you wanted," McGuigan adds.What did you do yesterday?Media consumption patterns of 419 kids aged 7-12 Watch TV92%Use the Internet55%Listen to music (not radio)48%Play video games45%Listen to the radio40%Watch a DVD28%Use a cell phone10%SOURCE: Tween Media Usage, Solutions Research Group/YTVKids viewing nearly 11 hours of media in the average day Media/platformHoursTV2.6DVDs1.7Internet1.6Video games1.5Radio1.2Music (not radio)1.1Cell phone1SOURCE: Tween Media Usage, Solutions Research Group/YTV

Use of the third screen isn’t at the expense of the tube: YTV

Broadcast | February 21, 2007

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