Why Didn’t Mobile Displace TV as Apple and Others Predicted?
Not too many years ago, Apple and others predicted that TV’s days were numbered and that we’d all be consuming content on mobile, solo, and on-the-go, and traditional TV viewing would fade. At best, these soothsayers got it half-right, and CTV continues to evolve and thrive. TVREV’s Alan Wolk asks why in this clip from Streaming Media NYC. Samsung Ads’ Justin Fromm, Streaming Made Easy’s Marion Ranchet, and TVision’s Yan Liu explain why media viewing behavior has evolved along different lines and what drives mobile and CTV consumption among different demographics in 2024.
Wolk points out that it was Apple, in particular, who really pushed the idea for years that TV consumption would migrate heavily to mobile devices, and he asks the panel for their insights into why that has not happened to the degree that was expected.
Phones act primarily as companion devices to TVs
Ranchet says that on a Streaming Media NYC panel earlier that day, Laura Florence, SVP Global FAST Channels, Fremantle, mentioned that 70% of viewers actually use their phones as “companion devices” while they watch TV. “So, I think we shouldn't exclude one versus the other,” she says. “Clearly, each caters to specific content, needs, and places you are in during the day. Can you watch television with a CTV in the bathroom? No. Can you take it with you on the subway now?”
Wolk says, “I have stayed in hotels that have TVs in the bathroom! I always wonder, who watches that? Who is that desperate that they need to turn it on while they're shaving?”
How home setups and economic factors influence big screen vs. mobile consumption
Yan Liu of TVision says that his company has been tracking methods of TV consumption quarterly, with a focus on regional economic development as a major factor in how people watch programming. “In most developed counties, [there are] fancier rooms and TVs. Then let's say you [want to] watch a one-hour show. Do you want to sit in a comfortable chair and enjoy the show using a big screen? But if you look at India, Brazil, China…many people there do not have that kind of setup. So, based on our measurements of all the kinds of Western countries, you see 80-85% big-screen viewership versus mobile. But in many emerging countries, big screen viewership is only 30 to 40%.”
Why age demographics are also important elements
Ranchet asks Liu if TVision has also studied age demographics as factors for large screen versus mobile viewing.
Liu says they have tracked usage by age, and “Younger people do have higher mobile viewership in the US," he says. “But as they get older, their behavior changes. And my thesis is when you start to get out of college, you get a job, you get an apartment, then [you can afford a] bigger room with a bigger TV. Then you still want to watch it on the bigger TV. So I don't believe this will change in the US because we've been tracking this for the last five, six years.”
Considering the price drop in TVs and the desire for social viewing experiences
Justin Fromm of Samsung Ads also notes that the increasing affordability of smart TVs has made them more accessible to larger groups of people. “TVs are one of the only durable goods where prices have stayed flat or gone down over time, and that's because the technology has advanced and the chips, the screens, all of that has become more affordable,” he says. “We can get these big, beautiful television sets into the living rooms.”
Fromm also underscores post-pandemic findings that social viewing remains an important consumer desire. During the pandemic, social media encouraged remotely connected “watch parties.” However, that trend quickly faded after lockdowns lifted. “It just didn't really take off,” he says. “We want to watch in the same room together.”
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