Comments on: Reality Update: People Still Watch Live TV

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 19 May 2010 16:34:01 +0000

It’s an old joke in television studies (my field) that one day we’ll all be able to write-off our cable fees on our yearly taxes as a work expense. However, most people that I have encountered who research television viewing do not watch it in the traditional “live” setting. I am an anomaly in that I prefer to watch certain programming “live” (such as my beloved Yankees games) and others time-shifted (like “Hell’s Kitchen,” which shrinks a one hour episode to just over 40 minutes).

Christine Quail wrote an interesting critique of online television viewing on FlowTV: http://flowtv.org/?p=4132.

By: Streeter

Streeter — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:22:15 +0000

Going along the ‘top 10 of 2009′ list bandwagon, Nielsen just released some new information about the top 10 shows that benefited from time-shifting. The NYT has an article up about the new data: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/is-the-dvr-helping-or-hurting-your-favorite-show/

By: Tom Eckles

Tom Eckles — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:20:33 +0000

As an old fart, just wanted to post that when a tv broadcast like Formula 1 racing was to show during a time when I could watch it live, I ALWAYS waited about 30 mins to be able to spin past the commericals. I can wait a few mins to not wait them during the race.. tho they still happen

By: ayman

ayman — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:37:24 +0000

@Gunner – nice find: I think the 9% deficit can be accounted for by prime time usage actually. 40% among DVR users (approx 30% of the USA viewers) sounds right…I think they projected round 1% of all viewing happens on a Timeshifted DVR.

@Elizabeth – thanks for the FlowTV link! I’ve been examining how people tweet when they watch live events on TV (hence my interest in no timeshifts). You can check out my first study, looking at the debates from last year: http://research.yahoo.com/pub/2851

By: Elizabeth Gough-Gordon

Elizabeth Gough-Gordon — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:29:04 +0000

Christine Quail wrote an interesting critique of online television viewing on FlowTV: http://flowtv.org/?p=4132.

By: naaman

naaman — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:38:15 +0000

I’m with Streeter. Can definitely see how “real time” TV becomes more important to people like us 1-percenters, because of the social streams.

Meanwhile, here in NYC, we haven’t watched live TV all year. All time-shifted. In fact, when T was traveling last week and mentioned she watched 30 Rock, I was dumbfounded, knowing that she couldn’t stream it from her hotel room. Didn’t even imagine that she (actually) meant she watched the “real time” TV broadcast.

By: Gunnar Harboe

Gunnar Harboe — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:34:02 +0000

These numbers seem hard to reconcile with the ones reported here: http://newteevee.com/2008/11/07/dvr-users-younger-shifting-half-their-programs/

While that report discusses prime-time viewing specifically, can that really account for a gap between 11% (wrt the five main networks) and 1.15%? While I know it’s dangerous to extrapolate from your own social network (especially when that network is made up of TiVo owners and hulu viewers), 40% time-shifted viewing among DVR users sounds much more in the ballpark to me, based on my anecdotal experience.

It’s also worth noting that while both sets of figures come from Nielsen, they are not an entirely disinterested party. It would be interesting to supplement this information with data from TiVo Analytics, for example.

By: George Murray

George Murray — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:27:40 +0000

I watch all of my television timeshifted but I am def in the 1%. If I had a preference, I’d like to watch TV with other people, and I think most people would agree with that. I think that I’m lowering the priority for going out of my way to watch with others, when I can do it on my own time.

I think this points towards TV watching groups that are more focused than the 100,000′s being broadcast to at once. I do think the social aspect of TV watching (social interactions + timeliness) are not going away.

By: Streeter

Streeter — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:43:24 +0000

There are definitely benefits to not watching a show time-shifted these days. With the real-time stream becoming even more popular, there is a social incentive to watch sooner so as to interact with friends who are also watching it. And then there is also an incentive to watch sooner to prevent spoilers. There are shows that I watch (eg. The Office) just a few minutes after they regularly start (to avoid commercials) just so I can interact with friends shortly after the conclusion of the show. And then there are times when I don’t want to wait any longer (Top Chef – I’m also a Kevin fan).

By: ayman

ayman — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:34:04 +0000

@dean i’d be happy with a sample size. my guess is they have some decent stats ppl there and arent just asking 10 grad students in a lab. The linked PDF has some details on timeshifting: TV in the home includes those viewing at least one minute (reach) within the measurement period. This includes Live viewing plus any playback within the measurement period; Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but includes playback from VOD, DVD Recorders and services like Start Over. TV in the home includes Live usage plus any playback viewing within the measurement period. Timeshifted TV is playback primarily on a DVR but includes playback from VOD, DVD Recorders and services like Start Over.

@streeter I saw that partnership announcement and would love to see what Goog can do with it. And to clarify, I like the timeshift, but I still try to tune in same bat time same bat channel to catch a show when it airs.