• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, June 13, 2014

According to the ARRIS 2014 Consumer Entertainment Index, broadcast TV remains the staple of in-home entertainment, with a nearly universal 96% penetration rate, while a growing aversion to traditional TV advertising is opening the door for multiscreen merchandising. And the biggest challenge of today's multiscreen world may be finding the space to save everything we want to watch, says the report.

Consumer demand for personalized entertainment is driving several key trends in global content consumption, with significant implications for tomorrow's entertainment services. Key findings from the study include:

• 80% of consumers admit to 'binge-viewing' entertainment, while 14% admit to binge-viewing at least once a day
• 60% of consumers record entertainment to skip the ads. 41% said that ads on their smartphone are intrusive. However, 17% of consumers use secondary devices to purchase products featured on the programs they watch
• Globally, the living room remains the most popular room for viewing TV, while 41% of tablet owners now use their tablets in the bedroom to watch entertainment
• 62% of DVR owners say they have to delete programs because they ran out of space, despite 28% of recorded content having never been watched. 52% said they recorded content to skip the parts of the program they didn't like

Sandy Howe, SVP, Global Marketing, ARRIS, says that "… consumers now expect entertainment on their terms… control over what they watch, when and where they watch it… broadcast TV… serves as the foundation for new ways of consuming content like multiscreen, multi-room, and binge-viewing… (the study shows) an uptick in conversion on second-screen merchandising… an opportunity for service providers to offer more personalized services… and program-related content… “

Binge-viewing has gone mainstream, says the report, and is especially popular with women and younger audiences in the living room:

• 80% admit to 'binge-viewing' entertainment. 18% of 25-34 year-olds binge-view once a week. 14% of respondents say they binge at least once a day
• 31% say they binge-view content by downloading a free catch-up service or via DVD/Blu-ray. Only 10% said they binge- watched via a paid-for download service, and only 8% said they did so via a paid-for streamed service
• 37% of binge-viewing most often takes place on standard TV, over computers, smartphones, and tablets.
• Traditional connected devices remain the second-most used, 32% binge with the laptop, and 27% the desktop. 11% binge-view on a tablet device
• Films and movies are the preferred binge-viewing content for 51% of respondents, followed by entertainment programs (38%)
• 35% of women say they binge-view at least once a week, compared to 32% of men

The study suggests that traditional TV and mobile advertising is reaching a saturation point, while consumers appear to embrace new forms of personalized and program-related merchandising:

• 84% of people admitted to wanting to fast-forward ads they watch; 65% of respondents said they want to fast-forward more than half the time they watch TV
• 60% of those surveyed say they record content to be able to fast-forward through advertising
• 41% of consumers feel that mobile advertising is intrusive
• 49% of consumers never click through or follow up on TV advertisement on their connected devices
• 36% of consumers used a second device to access live information about the program they are watching, 32% engaged in a text conversation about the program, and 21% engaged in a voice conversation using a second device
• 30% of consumers using secondary devices have done so to purchase products featured in the programs they watch, while 20% played an interactive game or app related to the program

Watching TV is often the secondary action to provide background entertainment, as mobile smart devices have become much more of a distraction, often taking consumers away from the content they're watching on their main screen, says the report. The living room continues to be the preferred location for entertainment viewing in the home, but consumers are extending this onto more devices in more room:

• Respondents are branching out from the living room, with 41% of tablet owners watch content on their tablet in the bedroom, and 22% in the kitchen
• 66% of respondents said they watch broadcast TV in the living room, while 61% said they watch subscription paid TV
• Tablet and smartphone use for watching media and content is increasing in the dining room, the kitchen and the bathroom
• Half of smartphone owners watch TV on their smartphone for at least a few minutes a week, as well as six out of ten tablet owners, and 96% of global respondents watch at least one hour of broadcast TV each week
• The device most likely to distract consumers in 2014 is the laptop, with 29% of people saying they used one to have a text conversation, buy a song, play a game or access data about the program. Smartphones, surprisingly, are the preferred device for distraction among only 18% of the population
• 37% of respondents said that they were browsing the Internet in a manner unrelated to the content on TV using a second device; 37% also said they were texting/messaging/emailing friends or family; 33% said they were browsing social media; 29% said they were online shopping; 29% said playing a game

With so much content to watch, and yet a finite amount of time in the day, households argue over what gets consigned to trash, says the report. 

• 74% of respondents who had to delete a program from their DVR before watching it said that having to delete programs to make space has caused frustration in the home.
• 62% of respondents record content each week, but of that recorded content, 28% is never actually watched
• 40% of those who delete programs before they get around to watching them say the reason they delete programs because they are no longer interested. 28% saw the content elsewhere; 23% had to delete to make way for other programs; and 10% plan to get it on demand.           
• 29% of respondents said that they would swap to a different service provider or complete the sign up to a provider if they could store their content remotely. In addition, 33% said they would be prepared to pay for this service.

The Arris Consumer Entertainment Index is an independent study of global media consumption habits, surveying 10,500 consumers from 19 countries. The study tracks engagement with various components of the entertainment experience including multiscreen, advertising, and DVR to offer insight into the trends that are driving the evolution of content consumption.

For more information from ARRIS, and to access the complete report, please visit here.