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

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).

Professor Catherine Johnson

Discovering content

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

common default (particularly among younger participants and those with a smart TV and/or SVOD subscription) was what the research termed a ‘1-world default’: that is defaulting to the ‘world’ of a smart TV, pay-TV service and/or an SVOD and using a range of features within the world (from search and categories to recommendations and watchlists) to find content. In this research Sky and Netflix were the primary 1-world defaults.

The importance of paratexts

The research also revealed the strategies that people adopt to become aware of and decide what to watch, from a significant reliance on word of mouth, to the importance of paratexts, such as professional reviews and industry-produced ads and trailers. Routes to content were also shaped by media and technological literacy and household dynamics, with older women and younger adults more likely to lack control of the TV set. Participants found public service TV easy to find in the electronic programme guide (EPG), but less so on-demand. Although participants associated public service broadcasters (PSBs) (particularly the BBC) with quality and shared viewing experiences, they tended not to see PSBs’ VOD services as places to discover new content. At the same time, a number of younger participants associated Netflix with values typically aligned with PSB, to the detriment of the BBC in particular.

Research impact

The research has been shared with industry and policy-makers, including Ofcom (the UK media regulator), the BBC and Red Bee Media. Professor Catherine Johnson has recently been appointed as a special advisor to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee on the future of public service broadcasting, and the research findings will help to inform her work with the committee. She is also working with Red Bee Media to develop recommendations for UK and international public service broadcasters to help them to ensure that their programmes are easy to find across the wide range of platforms and services that we now use to watch television.

The impact of this research has shaped Ofcom’s research and policy discussions, facilitated the strategic development of creative businesses and informed public, industry and policy debates. Given Ofcom’s remit as the media regulator in the UK where 95% of all households own a television, the BBC’s position as the primary UK PSB and a major international broadcaster with a weekly audience of 372m around the world, and the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) membership from 56 countries across Europe, the impact has significant national and international reach.