IPTV

In a recent blog entry, Espial’s (News - Alert) (News - Alert) Kirk Edwardson refers to Bain and Co. research data that points to an increase in the number of hours that Americans will devote to watching television by 2012.

In a presentation titled, "U.S. TV Landscape in 2012, The impact of digitization" Bain researchers say the Average weekly hours of media usage per person will rise from 68 hours weekly to 71 hours, with the rise in television viewing the largest gainer at 1.8 hours.

Bain defines "media usage" to include television viewing (including time-shifted programming), radio/recorded music, Internet (including e-mail and IM at home — not office usage) and "other."

Information like this flies in the face of "chicken little" types who portend the end of "TV as we know it" and who claim that the digitalization of television will enable consumers to access any content anywhere, any time to the detriment of traditional viewing habits.

While it’s true that Internet-based video is growing at a rapid pace, with U.S.-initiated video streams nearly doubling from 3.7 billion to 7 billion, the total effects generated by online video are still small, representing approximately seven percent of time spent online and less than one percent of online spending.

One of the more interesting elements of the Bain research was the disparity between those holding the "disruptive change" view and the researcher’s own perspective.

Those who maintain that the industry landscape will be redrawn believe that

In an opposing view, Bain believes that: 

 
Edwardson’s curiosity is piqued by the study and he asks several questions: 

What do you think about this? Do you have any insight? Let us know. Feel free to post a comment to this article or send e-mail to [email protected].