5 ms·

The demise of TV in a single chart: http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-10-21/less-time-in-front-of-the-tube-threatens-pay-tv-model.html http://www.bloo

by bd 13y ago

The demise of TV in a single chart: http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-10-21/less-time-in-front-of-the-tube-threatens-pay-tv-model.html http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-10-21/less-time-i... Younger the viewers, less TV they watch.

andyl 13y ago
Wow - these graphs show 20-46 hours of viewing per week. Per week. I had no idea.
- VLM 13y ago
  The data is bogus. A full time job with modest overtime... watching TV? There is not physically enough time in the week.
  - philwelch 13y ago
    20 hours over the weekend plus 4 hours a day at night. It's possible.
  - tsotha 13y ago
    Not everyone has a full time job. The labor force participation rate is only about 63% in the US. Also, I think a lot of people need television as background noise. They don't necessarily watch it, but it's on while they do chores and what not.
- vitd 13y ago
  Same here! I don't even have kids and I can barely fit in 8-10 hours per week. For my demographic, they're claiming 30+ hours per week. Next time my friends with kids complain about "not enough time in the day," I think I'm going to smack them!
anigbrowl 13y ago
I would be cautious about drawing too many conclusions from that. Younger viewers are also more likely to have school work as kids or college students, and as young adults they spend more time running around exploring the world, seeking a mate, and so on. On the other hand, when they settle down viewing patterns can change. Also, bear in mind that now many current shows are competing with older shows available through services like Netflix; they make less money up front, but the 'long tail' gets fatter for quality or cult shows.
- InclinedPlane 13y ago
  But you can see that the trend is downward in each younger demographic. Also you'll notice that the figures from comparable cohorts stay pretty steady over time. For example, the 2011 18-24 figures are similar to the 2013 25-34 figures, and the 2011 12-17 figures are similar to the 2013 18-24 figures. The data from just that chart is not complete enough to follow a particular group as it ages but still it looks like the chart supports the idea that younger folks simply watch less TV and will continue to do so even as they get older.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    I see your point but don't fully agree. There's only 3 data points for each cohort, and the change seems to be within the margin of error, at that. Have you considered that the year-on-year decline might also be correlated with the modest increase in economic growth over the last few years? This occurs to me because I notice that the older two cohorts (which would have the highest number of retirees) actually show a slight increase in viewership for this year over 2012. I do think TV is in long term decline, though as I explained in a nearby comment I think that's more to do with the model of TV distribution than production. The subheading on the graph actually acknowledges this (saying that streaming video services are disrupting the traditional pay TV audience model), but the headline is misguided - I'm not convinced people are spending that much less time sitting in front of the TV than before. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised the decline isn't steeper, although I'm basing that partly on changes in my own viewing habits (n=1) as the selection on Netflix improves - Iwatch about 6 hours of news and 4 hours of entertainment on TV in a typical week, but since rescuing a dog has made it hard to go to the movies, over the last few months we've been systematically working our way through every episode of Star Trek instead.
- chaostheory 13y ago
  > Also, bear in mind that now many current shows are competing with older shows available through services like Netflix; they make less money up front, but the 'long tail' gets fatter for quality or cult shows. I don't think services like Amazon or Netflix counts as TV even though they carry a lot of TV episodes
ChrisNorstrom 13y ago
Yeah, many of them are either out with friends or online gaming like my little brother. When I was a kid we came home and watched Pokemon, CardCaptor Sakura, Yu-Gi-Oh, every afternoon. All those cartoons are gone now.
mstrem 13y ago
Well, that is not the full story though... I expect older people to watch more TV. All my grand parents basically sit in front of the TV all day... I would expect I would watch a lot more if I was older currently, even simply because I would have a lot more free time.
- protomyth 13y ago
  My parents have the TV on as long as they are awake - for a lot of that time, it is just background noise.
  - VLM 13y ago
    That's what I mean about bogus stats. I never power my phone off (why would I?) and its got 3G internet everywhere I go, therefore on the graph by the same logic I have 24 hours of mobile use per day.
- VLM 13y ago
  As an older guy I can assure you personally that when I have free time, the last thing I want to do with it is watch TV. Too much living to do. I do agree with your observation about old people and TV in that my experience with elderly ancestors is an extremely high correlation between watching TV all day and death within the next couple years. When you can't do anything anymore physically but open your eyes, the socially accepted dumping ground (at least on a small scale) is in front of a TV. I believe this explains the peculiar claim that 80 year old people "watch" 16 hours per day of TV on average. This does not explain the claims about 50 year olds.
  - dinkumthinkum 13y ago
    Maybe I'm a contrarian or I see lot of this here on HN for what it is but I find these comments funny and ironic. How do you find time to comment HN with all ths living to do?
    - VLM 13y ago
ollysb 13y ago
I presume these charts don't include watching pirated shows on their computer...

by bd 13y ago

andyl 13y ago

Wow - these graphs show 20-46 hours of viewing per week. Per week. I had no idea.

VLM 13y ago
The data is bogus. A full time job with modest overtime... watching TV? There is not physically enough time in the week.
- philwelch 13y ago
  20 hours over the weekend plus 4 hours a day at night. It's possible.
- tsotha 13y ago
  Not everyone has a full time job. The labor force participation rate is only about 63% in the US. Also, I think a lot of people need television as background noise. They don't necessarily watch it, but it's on while they do chores and what not.
vitd 13y ago
Same here! I don't even have kids and I can barely fit in 8-10 hours per week. For my demographic, they're claiming 30+ hours per week. Next time my friends with kids complain about "not enough time in the day," I think I'm going to smack them!

anigbrowl 13y ago

I would be cautious about drawing too many conclusions from that. Younger viewers are also more likely to have school work as kids or college students, and as young adults they spend more time running around exploring the world, seeking a mate, and so on. On the other hand, when they settle down viewing patterns can change. Also, bear in mind that now many current shows are competing with older shows available through services like Netflix; they make less money up front, but the 'long tail' gets fatter for quality or cult shows.

InclinedPlane 13y ago
But you can see that the trend is downward in each younger demographic. Also you'll notice that the figures from comparable cohorts stay pretty steady over time. For example, the 2011 18-24 figures are similar to the 2013 25-34 figures, and the 2011 12-17 figures are similar to the 2013 18-24 figures. The data from just that chart is not complete enough to follow a particular group as it ages but still it looks like the chart supports the idea that younger folks simply watch less TV and will continue to do so even as they get older.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  I see your point but don't fully agree. There's only 3 data points for each cohort, and the change seems to be within the margin of error, at that. Have you considered that the year-on-year decline might also be correlated with the modest increase in economic growth over the last few years? This occurs to me because I notice that the older two cohorts (which would have the highest number of retirees) actually show a slight increase in viewership for this year over 2012. I do think TV is in long term decline, though as I explained in a nearby comment I think that's more to do with the model of TV distribution than production. The subheading on the graph actually acknowledges this (saying that streaming video services are disrupting the traditional pay TV audience model), but the headline is misguided - I'm not convinced people are spending that much less time sitting in front of the TV than before. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised the decline isn't steeper, although I'm basing that partly on changes in my own viewing habits (n=1) as the selection on Netflix improves - Iwatch about 6 hours of news and 4 hours of entertainment on TV in a typical week, but since rescuing a dog has made it hard to go to the movies, over the last few months we've been systematically working our way through every episode of Star Trek instead.
chaostheory 13y ago
> Also, bear in mind that now many current shows are competing with older shows available through services like Netflix; they make less money up front, but the 'long tail' gets fatter for quality or cult shows. I don't think services like Amazon or Netflix counts as TV even though they carry a lot of TV episodes

ChrisNorstrom 13y ago

Yeah, many of them are either out with friends or online gaming like my little brother. When I was a kid we came home and watched Pokemon, CardCaptor Sakura, Yu-Gi-Oh, every afternoon. All those cartoons are gone now.

mstrem 13y ago

Well, that is not the full story though... I expect older people to watch more TV. All my grand parents basically sit in front of the TV all day... I would expect I would watch a lot more if I was older currently, even simply because I would have a lot more free time.

protomyth 13y ago
My parents have the TV on as long as they are awake - for a lot of that time, it is just background noise.
- VLM 13y ago
  That's what I mean about bogus stats. I never power my phone off (why would I?) and its got 3G internet everywhere I go, therefore on the graph by the same logic I have 24 hours of mobile use per day.
VLM 13y ago
As an older guy I can assure you personally that when I have free time, the last thing I want to do with it is watch TV. Too much living to do. I do agree with your observation about old people and TV in that my experience with elderly ancestors is an extremely high correlation between watching TV all day and death within the next couple years. When you can't do anything anymore physically but open your eyes, the socially accepted dumping ground (at least on a small scale) is in front of a TV. I believe this explains the peculiar claim that 80 year old people "watch" 16 hours per day of TV on average. This does not explain the claims about 50 year olds.
- dinkumthinkum 13y ago
  Maybe I'm a contrarian or I see lot of this here on HN for what it is but I find these comments funny and ironic. How do you find time to comment HN with all ths living to do?
  - VLM 13y ago

ollysb 13y ago

I presume these charts don't include watching pirated shows on their computer...