The Changes in TV Audiences Essay Example

Introduction

Television watching has been driven by improvement in television access. Access to television has increased by a significant percentage over the last ten years. Economies are improving and television have become cheaper which means that people' disposable income also improved enabling them to buy the TV. TV is no longer considered as an entertainment media but also an important information tool. Television can be accessed everywhere whether in school, offices, streets or homes. Most children are brought up in a household with television as opposed to previous decades when television could only be accessed in specific wealthy homes and hotels. It is also important to note that television viewing has also been considered as part of education as children are encouraged to watch educative contents. With advancement in technologies, small TV, flat television and highly portable television have become a real phenomenon (Statista, 2018).

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Effect of the different habits and choices on TV consumption (China context)

Television watching has also increased the number of hours spent watching television on mobile phones, tablet, computers and digital television has increased. The second most important driver for the increase in television watching is the content development. With the diversity in television audiences, there is content for every culture, ethnic groups, age, and occupation. Almost all demographics are represented in television watching considering the fact that children have the cartoon, teenagers have series of movies and education channels, and older adult has content particularly developed and curetted for the adult segment. Apart from segment-targeted content, television consumption has also shifted from programmed content to on-demand content where people can stream content they would like to watch. People can customize their playlist to their liking that gives the consumers power and control over the contents that watch on televisions (Emarketer.com, 2018).

China has over 378 million TV households. Currently, the multichannel penetration is 48%, as more than 180 million homes have television. It is estimated that digital penetration will reach 70% of cable homes within the next five years. The average viewer spends l4 hours watching television while digital television has overtaken traditional media in China. Never the less, TV consumption has remained stable for a long time (Emarketer.com, 2018).

Advancement in technologies has also enabled people to multitask in front of the television. For example, those watching television on movies phones and other smart devices can read emails, Send text, chat, watch television, and download their preferred content over the same devices. Which mean that people do not have to buy additional devices for other functions? The number of hours spent in front of devices has increased because they can use the same devices for both work and entertainment by just minimizing one window and opening another window. Shifting and shuffling between entertainment and work has become part of the behavioural aspect of television viewers.

The internet is a component of digital convergences that has improved efficiency. Today, audiences can stream all content they need on demand. However while there is health concern about too much television watching (sedentary lifestyles), the on-screen time has also been significantly correlated with research and development in content development increased conveniences through converged stories as well as audience engagement (Dhoest & Simons, 2016). The content developers have managed to leverage the media convergence to provide the consumers with variety at their convergences. Digital convergence has also driven the cost of content development and delivery down, reducing barriers to market entry. New providers increase competition and in the process, lower subscription fees for consumers. Prices of television have gone down and television subscription has gone down.

From the interview, the common theme across the population was that television is nowadays cheaper and almost all households have televisions. Secondly, tall the interviewees agreed that digital convergence has increased television viewership and subscription as people can access the content over their smart devices and computers (Choi, 2017). People are using the internet to stream their content, watch programmed content and store curate content for later viewing. Television and new media integration have increased options and varieties for the different segments of the audiences. Each segment can access television content over various devices including tablets and Smartphone's (teenagers), television sets (children and older adults), computers and television sets (adults).

References

Choi, Y. (2017). The emergence of the viewing public: Does social television viewing transform individual viewers into a viewing public?. Telematics And Informatics, 34(7), 1059-1070. doi: 10.1016/j.tele.2017.04.014

Dhoest, A., & Simons, N. (2016). Still 'Watching' TV? The Consumption of TV Fiction by Engaged Audiences. Media And Communication, 4(3), 176. doi: 10.17645/mac.v4i3.427

Emarketer.com. (2018). Digital Overtakes Traditional Media in China, but TV Consumption Holds Strong - eMarketer. Retrieved from https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Digital-Overtakes-Traditional-Media-China-TV-Consumption-Holds-Strong/1013881

Service, R. (2016). China overtakes U.S. supercomputing lead. Science, 352(6293), 1500-1501. doi: 10.1126/science.352.6293.1500

Statista. (2018). China - daily linear TV viewers 2017 | Statistic. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/738865/china-daily-linear-tv-viewers/