The changing landscape of television For more information on the research in this article email: c.johnson2@hud.ac.uk and m.j.hills@hud.ac.uk or visit pure.hud.ac.uk Professor Catherine Johnson
Discovering content
With over 600 television channels in the UK and more than 300 ondemand video services licensed by Ofcom, the TV industry faces a significant challenge in connecting audiences to content. The ‘discoverability’ of television is central to the economic viability of the industry, and to the socio-cultural value (and broader survival) of public service broadcasters (PSBs).
How we view and navigate what we watch on television has changed considerably. The mainstream adoption of on-demand TV since the 2010s has altered the TV landscape. In the UK, 53% of households have a TV set connected to the internet, half of households subscribe to at least one subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service, 42% consider online services to be their main way of watching film and TV, and YouTube is the most watched platform by 16-24 year-olds (Ofcom, Media Nations, 2019). Primary 1-world defaults Research undertaken by Professor Matt Hills, Professor Catherine Johnson and Research Assistant Lauren Dempsey examines the world of on-demand TV and asks how people discover content. Their research found that people have habitual ‘default’ ways of finding TV content to watch which often bypass industry-controlled interfaces. Most participants adopt different defaults depending on time of day, content and viewing mode (distracted/ engaged, exploratory/directed). However, the most
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