OzTAM has broadened its TV Audience reporting capabilities with the addition of a weekly video player measurement (VPM) report which captures the top live-streamed programs each week.
Doug Peiffer, CEO at OzTAM, said new report compliments the organisation’s VPM reports on the top catch-up programs, and further highlights the changing consumer behaviours around TV content.
“Sport and news tend to dominate Live VPM, as the content is more ‘perishable’,” he said.
“Catch up is more about watching at a time and manner of the viewer’s choosing. Drama and entertainment are usually the most-watched catch-up programs.
“Both are important in understanding how people engage with TV content, and the opportunity to live stream or catch up keeps audiences close to their favourite programs.”
On average, OzTAM’s VPM reporting service typically captures around 30 to 50 million minutes of content per day. Of that, catch-up TV accounts for 25 to 35 million minutes, while live streaming makes up between 5 to 15 million minutes.
Overall, viewing of online broadcast content – including catch up and live streaming – currently accounts for approximately one to two per cent of all broadcast content viewed each week, according to OzTAM.
However, VPM can represent a sizeable portion of a program episode’s total audience, similar to the way some broadcast programs see significant audience increases from time-shifted viewing.
Industry body ThinkTV welcomed OzTAM’s decision to release ratings for live-streamed TV shows.
“The sharing of live-streamed data alongside daily ratings and catch-up program ratings underlines the rigour and precision of the Australian TV industry’s world-class, independent, third-party, audited metrics for advertisers and their agencies,” Kim Portrate, CEO of ThinkTV, said.
“When considering consumers’ total consumption of TV, it’s possible to see audience increases of up to 10 per cent from catch-up alone on some shows.
“The vast majority of TV viewing is still done a TV set because of the unbeatable attraction of that big screen in the home, but now viewers also want to dip in and out of their favourite shows on the go, particularly when it comes to news and live sport. The advent of live TV streaming has made this possible.”
