I realized recently that my kids simply do not surf TV channels; they watch what they want to watch and they find out what they want to watch from friends and favorite sources. And they watch on their own schedule. Now TV Week reports that they are hardly alone:
Today’s younger viewers in the 18-to-39 age group regularly watch TV on an on-demand basis, with some watching TV programming only on their computers. Within seven years, that generation probably will consume 80 percent of its TV on-demand via broadband, DVR, iPod or VOD, said Kaan Yigit, analyst with Solutions Research Group in Canada, which issued the report “Digital Life America” to its TV network and studio clients last week. . . .
Indeed, when grouped together, on-demand viewing is not marginal at all — it’s the wave of the future, he said. With the exception of perhaps 10 major TV events, such as the Super Bowl and the finale of a show like “American Idol,” the new generation of TV viewers will be watching shows on-demand, with a remote or keyboard in hand.
Already, 50 percent of adults 18 to 39 have watched TV shows on-demand online, on VOD or on a DVR or iPod on a monthly basis, according to the study. To put that in perspective, five years ago virtually none of these viewing options existed. . . .
“You give on-demand to people, no matter which way they do it, and they just flock to it,” Mr. Yigit said. “It’s all about saving time.”
That’s why 52 percent of the study’s respondents say they always skip ads when watching shows on DVR. . . .
Consumers also are taking quickly to online viewing. Though TV networks have only started to offer their shows online regularly in the past year, already one-quarter of online Americans over the age of 12 — or about 45 million people — have streamed full TV shows at some point. What’s more, 10 percent of Americans have a TV show stored on their computer and 24 percent have a show stored on a mobile device.
