Aussie content dominates catch-up services
Screen Australia today released new research looking at the programming strategies of all five free-to-air television catch-up services.
The research revealed that Australian content dominates catch-up services with 58 per cent of all hours being Australian.
The percentage varied across each of the five catch-up services given their different programming strategies. The findings were based on an analysis of content offered during the first four weeks of the official 2012 ratings period.
Screen Australia has also released its latest research snapshot Did You Know? Catch-up and beyond: Television content on demand – View Did You Know?
Spotlight on Catch-up TV: Television content on demand is a companion piece to Screen Australia’s recently released report, What to Watch? Audience motivation in a multi-screen world, on Australians’ motivations for watching feature films, television drama and documentaries.
Says Matthew Deaner, Screen Australia’s strategy and research manager: “With 94 per cent of Australians consuming on average three hours of television a day, networks’ on-demand services will play a key role in driving online viewing as the market matures.
“The moves taken by the biggest media companies into emerging markets online are what potentially set the trends for audiences. It’s important for the industry to understand the broadcasters programming strategies and what’s on offer in the online space.”
Over the past four years, all five free-to-air broadcasters have launched dedicated ‘catch-up’ websites offering recently broadcast television programs on demand. This commitment from established media players to delivering content via the internet is a clear indicator of the evolving ways in which audiences are engaging with long-form screen content.
While their primary purpose is to enable viewers to ‘catch up’ with popular programming, catch-up television services do more than just duplicate the primetime broadcast schedule. They also provide alternative programming to the broadcast offerings, including archives of programs that have aired on Australian free-to-air television in the past and a limited amount of content that has not aired locally at all.
1 Comment
A typically dishonest piece of spin from Screen Australia. They’ve made a list of what’s been on the menu, and then carefully written a press release paragraph that sounds as if they’ve found out what’s been eaten. Here’s one bit: “The research reveals that Australian content dominates catch-up services with 58 per cent of all hours being Australian.” Would you buy a used car…. etc