A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION CONTENT AND PLATFORMS IN A DIGITAL WORLD

A FUTURE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION
These changes appear far more dramatic
when the changing consumption patterns
of younger people are examined in detail.
Reported TV viewing of children between 4
and 15 and adults between 16 and 34 declined
by 30% between 2010 and 2015 as compared
to the 10% drop across the whole audience. 98
Only 50% of 16-24-year-olds’ total audiovisual
consumption is through live TV, compared
with 69% for all age groups 99 while two-thirds
of their TV viewing is live as compared to
86% of those aged above 55. 100 Some 47% of
them have an on-demand subscription in the
home, against 26% for all age groups. 101 Only
10% of their viewing on Amazon and Netflix
services is to BBC or ITV content. 102 They are
also increasingly watching short-form content
on sites such as Facebook and YouTube that
accounted for 8% of all their audiovisual
viewing in 2014. 103 These changing patterns
of consumption are not confined to under-
25s: there is evidence that 25-34-year-olds
and even 35-44-year-olds are also watching
material in different ways. 104
How fast these changes spread remains to be
seen, and it is possible that younger people
will adopt the habits of older generations
as they age, perhaps preferring to watch
live TV more as they go out less. But even if
this happens – and there are strong reasons
to doubt it – it is clear that the formal
boundaries between broadcasting and the
internet have already effectively collapsed.
The trend towards on-demand viewing and
the prospects of “post-network television” 105
point in one direction; it’s just a question of
how fast the change occurs.
This does not, however, presage the imminent
decline of television as a form of popular
communication but rather the gradual
supplementing of live television with more
complex modes of consumption. Indeed, it
would be a mistake to equate the appetite for
short form video amongst younger audiences
with a rejection of long form video when, in
reality, those audiences are enjoying both.
The increasing popularity of YouTube, as one
source of video, “no doubt poses a challenge
for traditional broadcasters” argue Enders
Analysis. “But it is one that concerns the
delivery of the content rather than the nature
of the content itself – the production of which
[comes]…from a position of experience.” 106
Traditional content providers may have to
up their game if they are to keep up with
changing consumer preferences but they
still retain brand familiarity, access to capital
and a track record that suggests they are not
likely to disappear anytime soon.
The arrival of the Americans
As we have seen, the arrival of Netflix and
Amazon is potentially of huge significance in
disrupting the UK broadcasting sector. They
are the biggest names at the moment; others
are likely to enter the market, and they are
most likely to be US companies. The giants
of the technology sector – Google, Microsoft,
Facebook, Apple – are all American. Channel
5 is now owned by the US media corporation
Viacom, while it is often predicted that ITV
will ultimately be bought by a US company.
Many of the largest ‘independent’ production
companies in the UK are now US-owned.
98
Enders Analysis, Will the young of today ever turn to trad TV? January 15, 2016.
99
Ofcom, PSB in the Internet Age: Ofcom’s Third Review of Public Service Broadcasting, 2015, p. 19.
100
Enders Analysis, Watching TV and video in 2025, January 15, 2016.
101
Ofcom, PSB in the Internet Age, p. 20.
102
Ibid., p. 20.
103
Ibid.
104
Ibid., p. 21.
105
Amanda Lotz, The Television Will Be Revolutionized, 2nd edition, New York: NYU Press, 2014.
106
Enders Analysis, Does short form video affect long form content? May 12, 2016.
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