A recent Nielsen report shows that more and more people are turning to streaming and tuning out traditional broadcasts.
One of the things that has long irked me about mainstream media is the fact that they have abandoned the principles of fact-based journalism and reporting on what they are finding is the truth on different topics. This is especially true when it comes to anything really related to tech issues. This was shown very vividly throughout the debates of the Online News Act, Online Streaming Act, and even debates surrounding social media. “News” articles that are supposed to inform have long devolved into propaganda pieces designed to push a business agenda rather than inform the public. Pushing messaging became the primary goal of news articles instead of journalists, well, doing their job.
With the results of this, and other activities, it’s little wonder why study after study shows that there is an erosion of trust in the media.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that constantly disparaging/defaming technology like social media isn’t happening in a vacuum. There is a very real reason why the mainstream media is doing this. Simply put, their viewership is simply eroding away. More and more people are turning to the internet to find entertainment that is designed to actually, you know, entertain. This after decades of mainstream media companies producing content as cheaply as human possible, relying on knock-off programming at best (such as The Amazing Race Canada, Big Brother Canada, and Family Feud Canada) or simply rebroadcasting American programming (such as the gazillion NCIS shows). If you want to see a fundamental difference between how content is produced online vs traditional broadcasts, this angle shows one of, if not, the most polar opposite mentality. Traditional broadcasters try and push the cheapest garbage they feel they can get away with while internet producers (like digital first creators) push what they feel is the best quality content they can offer to their viewers.
The results are, of course, unsurprising. Viewers gradually gravitate towards the sources that feature the high quality content. Companies once viewed by the establishment as little more than a joke that should be laughed out of the room eventually became widely known as one of the biggest business blunders of all time. Companies like Netflix became business giants, leaving establishment entertainment and media companies scrambling to try and come up with solutions just to survive.
For me, the obvious solution is to try and reform the business model and push out high quality content like journalism and broadcast programming. Of course, that would be logical and reasonable and that’s about the last thing the mainstream media companies want to do. The rebuttal to that by the establishment media companies is generally, “Yeah, but that costs money. We can’t afford to do things like that.” So, as a result, those companies end up defaulting to the strategy of “business as usual” while showering their CEO’s with billions in bonuses in the process. Yeah, if only there was a way to fund better quality programs.
So, the strategy they adopted is basically to attack technology and declare war on the future of media in general. Lobbying becomes the key component to their strategy by trying to censor these companies outright. By making it illegal to be a part of the entertainment market, people would magically flock to their offerings and all will be well – never mind the fact that this is constitutionally problematic and people would be more inclined to use anonymous technologies to get to the good stuff online. It’s not a particularly good strategy, but a strategy they employed nevertheless.
Now, a new study is showing that despite disparaging online companies as the devil, more and more people are turning to online services for their news and entertainment. According to Nielson, nearly half of all watch time is going towards online platforms:
Nielsen’s The Gauge report for December, a month bookended by the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, measured record usage for YouTube, Netflix and Prime Video, with overall viewing up 4 percent on the previous month.
In December, Netflix accounted for 8.5 percent of total viewing, boosted by special NFL games, Carry-On and Squid Game season two. YouTube hit a record 11.1 percent share. NFL games, Red One and Beast Games helped power Prime Video to a 4 percent share. Max was up 18 percent, driven by library hits such as The Big Bang Theory and Friends, as well as newcomer Dune: Prophecy.
Overall, streaming viewership rose 9 percent to secure a total of 43.4 percent of TV watch time. Broadcast and cable saw sports gains, while cable also saw a boost thanks to feature-film viewing.
One takeaway in this is the fact that we are closing in on a 50/50 split in all watch time going to online services. If this trend continues, we could be talking about how online watch time has overtaken all of traditional broadcasting.
There are strategies that legacy media could employ. Things like putting out high quality content and adopting online streaming strategies. Whether or not they actually follow through with that remains to be seen. Still, the statistics are quite clear that we are basically at a tipping point where traditional viewership is going to be a niche source of entertainment. At that point, the best that these outlets can hope for is that they finally got the hint that time has advanced and adapt to a modern age. After all, time isn’t waiting on them to make the move.
(Via @Pagmenzies)
