Australians watch nearly 100 hours of TV

The amount of video content watched via tablets, smartphones and PCs is increasing but television still rules, accounting for 96% of all video viewing.

While video viewing on PC and mobile is on the rise the combination of extended screens accounts for only 4% of the video consumption on traditional TV sets, according to the Australian Multi-Screen Report.

The amount of online video content Australians watch has increased year-on-year from more than two hours in quarter one last year to more than three hours in quarter one this year.

An estimated 15% of Australian households now have at least one tablet device with viewing of any video content reaching 5% at the end of 2011 from 2% in 2010.

Just under half (48%) of Australians over 16 years of age are estimated to have a smartphone with users spending an average one hour and 20 minutes per month watching any video content.

The quarterly report also found conventional TV viewing is strong with time spent rising 1.2% year-on-year.

The number of households which have time-shifted devices such as personal video recorders have also increased and are now in 47% of homes, up from 37% in Q1 last year.

The average monthly time spent viewing playback TV content is now at six hours and 33 minutes, up more than one hour year-on-year.

The number of homes with digital television sets has also increased year-on-year and is now at 96% with 74% of homes able to receive digital channels on every working TV set in the house.

Doug Peiffer, CEO OzTam, added: "The use of new devices will continue to grow – as seen in the estimated 15% of Australian households that already have a tablet device.”

“PCs and mobile devices are creating additional opportunities to view, in the process keeping consumers close to the content.”

"Amid the excitement about such technologies though, Australians' TV habits remain largely unchanged.

“People still enjoy nearly 100 hours of television on the conventional set every month, and 96% of viewing is still to the traditional in-home TV.”

The Australian Multi-Screen Report combines data from OzTam, Regional Tam television ratings panels as well as Nielsen’s national NetView panel and Consumer & Media View database.