Futuresource at The DTG Summit 2022

Earlier this month, Principal Analyst for Entertainment Media, David Sidebottom, joined the Digital TV Group at their 2022 summit. This year’s programme saw progressive topics and speakers reimagining the viewing experience, and David was able to present some of his key findings from the report recently commissioned by the group: DTG State of the Nation.

Television Beyond Imagination

In the 2022 report, Futuresource surveyed 2,000 respondents in the UK, on behalf of DTG. Questions focused on hot topics across the television landscape, including viewing habits, preferences, features and attitudes to new viewing experiences.

Viewing Diversity Evident, with an Uptake of Various Video Types

In the last year, “new wave” AVoD has seen the largest jump in uptake among UK consumers, with 25% now watching this emerging medium. 94% of respondents watch any form of video streaming, while Pay-TV HH have dipped two percentage points in the last year.

However, the TV set reigns supreme: four in five respondents stated that their TV sets is their preferred way to watch on-demand content.

Free TV Remains ‘go to’ way to Watch TV Programmes in the UK

Despite the growing number of options available to consumers across the UK, live free TV remains the most popular way to consume content. In addition, 71% of consumers agree that it is important that everyone in the UK has access to free, national television in the future.

A Clear Preference for British TV

44% of UK consumers have stated a clear preference for British TV shows. This is compared to 16% who outright prefer US/International TV shows. The main reason given for people preferring British TV shows is that they find them funnier and easier to relate to.

Energy Efficiency Becomes Paramount

When asked about features desired in their next TV set purchase, 51% stated they want smart/connected features, with energy efficiency the second most desired feature, ahead of 4K/UHD.

In addition, the importance of cyber security in TVs is also highlighted, with 45% of consumers more likely to buy a TV with an official certificate for high security standards over one that doesn’t have one.

TV Experiences have Improved since the Beginning of the Pandemic

32% of consumers say that their TV viewing experience is better than two years ago – only 13% of people believe that it is worse. When asked in which way consumers would like to see TV viewing experiences improved, the top three answers were:

• Picture quality
• Audio quality
• Control of the TV

TV in the Metaverse?

64% of UK consumers have heard of the metaverse, but most respondents asked didn’t know what it is. However, there is a clear opportunity for the TV industry; amongst those who do know what it is, the top three (of 13) responses on future Metaverse activities are:

• Watching TV
• Watching movies
• Meeting or chatting to friends/family

DTG State of the Nation Report

The DTG State of the Nation report is available on the DTG website.

If you’d like to explore custom report commissions with a member of the Futuresource team, please get in touch with leon.morris@futuresource-hq.com

About the author

David Sidebottom

David is a Principal Analyst – Media and Entertainment. David has over 20 years’ experience in a research and consultancy environment and is closely involved in researching, analysing and consulting on key content industry and consumer technology developments worldwide, with a particular focus on the evolution of digital business models in the TV, video and music industry. David works with a wide variety of high profile Futuresource clients across the content ecosystem including studios, broadcasters, technology companies, hardware vendors, service providers and industry associations. He also directs Futuresource’s long-running global consumer panel ‘Living with Digital’.