NBC/Universal: 5 trends that should not be ignored
At the Media Money Makers session, “Who’s Really Watching What and How?” president of research at NBC/Universal, Alan Wurtzel discussed five consumer-centric trends that people ignore at their peril.
1. Dynamic Pace of Change – Growth of media technologies outpaces our ability to adapt. He called the Vancouver Olympics a $2 billion experiment, for which lessons learned were wiped out two months later when the iPad was released.
2. Consumers Still Love TV – Assuming TV is “over” is a huge mistake. People spend 51% with TV, 25% with the Internet, 15% with radio(!), 4% reading newspapers, 2% with magazines, and 3% with mobile sources. People who watched the Vancouver Olympics online watched twice as much TV Olympics as people who didn’t watch on the Internet. For “30 Rock,” the NBC show with the greatest Internet following: 78% watch it via live TV, 12% play it back from their DVR, and only 10% watch it online. To put social media in perspective, Facebook has 151 million unique users per month, but the four broadcast networks gather 275 million unique viewers per month.
3. Fragmentation – It has become much more difficult to gather people. Nielsen now gathers information and reports ratings for 1035 channels. In 1995 the average US consumer had 41 channels available and viewed 10.4 channels. In 2008, the average US consumer had 130 channels available yet only viewed 18 of them.
4. AlphaBoomer Phenomenon – There are 3 transformative changes today, 1) the digital revolution, 2) rise of the Hispanic market, and 3) Boomers. Boomers (45-64 years old) are 33% of the population and they have money, yet they are invisible to marketers. The perception is that AlphaBoomers are technophobes, but the reality is that they embrace technology. They spend 49% more for online content than Gen Y! 75% of Boomers use technology to keep in touch with friends and family. 46% visit social websites monthly.
5. Time for a Reality Check – Conventional wisdom, media, and bad research can all be misleading. For example, Nielsen studied cord-cutting: 93% of people retained their existing service over the last year, 5% swapped cords (switched cable or satellite providers), and 1% were true cord cutters. Understand what is really going on. We generate notions of the general populations based on our circle of acquaintances. 77% of US teens and young adults don’t have a Twitter account. 60% of teens stop using Twitter after a month.
Display Tech Trends (3D TV – DisplaySearch Market Research)
(Summary: 247M TVs shipped, including 3M 3D TVs shipped worldwide in 2010. New features like LED backlights, 3D, and internet connectivity which offset any price declines)
The original press release can be found here
CES: Vizio announces Google TVs, Blu-ray players
(Phil Lelyveld comment: they don't mention it, but XVT3D650SV is a 3D TV)
Vizio is the second TV maker, after Sony, to officially announce a television or Blu-ray player with Google TV.
The company is marketing the Google TV feature as part of its Via Plus platform, an improved version of the Vizio Interactive Apps suite found on current models like our 2010 Editors' Choice XVT3SV series and the newXVT3D650SV.
Vizio's announcement today touted the availability of Via Plus on TVs and Blu-ray players, in addition to its newly-announced smart phones and tablets. According to the company, the platform "combines the convenience of entertainment on demand with seamless experience from the big screen to handheld devices."
Full story here
Gen Y Connects To Brands Via Digital Media
With approximately 75 million individuals ages 12-29 living in the U.S. today, Gen Y is believed to be the largest generational cohort since the baby boomers. And digital media is "trouncing" traditional channels in the battle for affluent Gen Y consumers, according to a new study by L2, which examined the media consumption habits of well-heeled millennials, defined as anyone born between 1980-2000).
The L2 study was based on an international survey panel of 535 young adults who expect to be earning more than $80,000 per year in the near future. Of key interest to advertisers and marketers, it delved into the implications for luxury marketers looking to connect with prestige-oriented members of this rising generation.
Facebook is a dominant presence in the Gen Y media mix, with 81% of affluent millennial consumers using it every day; that's about twice the proportion who read newspaper content (45%) or watch TV shows (44%) every day.
Read the full story here.