In this time of ever-increasing prices, most people spend a lot of time in their living room watching television. As prices charged by cable and satellite TV providers go up, the Internet comes to the rescue with free TV programming and some online TV ads!
The majority of people are beginning to feel the pinch in their wallet from the ripple effect of high gas prices. Most people instead of filling up their cars’ gas tank for a leisurely drive; spend most of their leisure time in their living room watching TV.
A 2006 Nielsen report on technology showed that about 95% of the people that have Internet access, use the Internet more than once a week, while about 37% use it daily. The trend continues with more consumers having access to computers and to the Internet.
Most colleges now give free laptops to their students, and most grammar schools are equipped with computer labs so that even grammar schools students can became familiar with the computer and Internet. As a result, even the parents of these students are introduced to the computer and the Internet.
As more and more of these informed consumers discover that major television networks are offering television shows free of charge on the Internet, then consumers will be watching their favorite TV shows online for free. As you can see, this behavior is mutually beneficial for both the consumers and the networks because the networks can capitalize on this new medium by selling Internet or online ads, and people can watch some of their favorite shows without paying any money to any cable or satellite TV provider.
A 2006 study showed that advertisers accepted the idea that online TV ads might work. It appeared that this idea might have being forced on the advertisers because research by Forrester and the ANA (Association of National Advertisers), and maybe others, showed that regular TV commercials were losing their effectiveness with the regular TV viewers. The advertisers came to accept that while most people will skip ahead their digital video recorders (DVRs) over the online TV ads, other people who do not have DVRs might still watch the Internet TV commercials. However research referenced in Broadcasting and Cable shows that advertisers will cut back their online ads if and when 50% of the consumers get to use DVRs.
Now a 2008 a pdf report by the Solutions Research Group, “Prime Time is Anytime,” states that about 43% of the US population with online access, about 80 million people, have watched their favorite TV shows online, and about 20% of the people with online access, are regularly watching their favorite TV shows on a weekly basis, and advertisers will continue their advertisements.
Consumers and TV networks might coexist symbiotically, as “give me free online TV shows and I will accept your online TV ads”.
Sources:
- http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6533738.html
- http://www.srgnet.com/pdf/Prime%20Time%20is%20%20Anytime%20-%20February%204%202008.pdf
- https://jitterymonks.com/jittery-monks-blog/
- http://www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/portal/site/Public/menuitem.55dc65b4a7d5adff3f65936147a062a0/?vgnextoid=4673a1bcb279f010VgnVCM100000ac0a260aRCRD
- http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,39320,00.html