TV
brings the family together
By Sue Peters
 Given
the rise of TVs, games consoles, music players and
mobile phones in teenagers’ bedrooms, you may
be forgiven for thinking that teens take great pleasure
in skulking off to their own rooms to chill to some
soothing sounds of angst rock. You may also be forgiven
for thinking that given our hectic lifestyles families
don’t eat together anymore. Research already
shows that meal times are becoming more fragmented
and may give way to snacks in the next 5 years.
However, you would be wrong in thinking that that
families are spending less time together in the house
when it comes to TV habits. The Living Room project
conducted by Teleconomy has shown that the living
room is still the hub of the household: it is alive
and kicking. Schedulers and broadcaster will be pleased
to learn that although programme choice is increasing,
people still look forward to sitting down together
at 7.30pm for Eastenders.
People enjoy watching programmes together, not only
in the same room but as part of a wider community.
The family actually enjoy coming together to watch
TV in the living room.
New technologies like Tivo that acts like a personal
video recorder may bypass the format of linear scheduling,
but there is something intrinsic to the living room
that may challenge the ability to select programmes
in an a la carte fashion. The values placed on the
living room will also influence the uptake of multiple
digital TV set top boxes that would allow control
of digital TV in each room with a box.
Teens have a huge say over what is watched, and if
they don’t get their own way it seems that to
leave the room is the last resort even though they
have a plethora of media in their own rooms. They
also drive their parents to breaking point with their
incredible reflexes to avoid ads and go interactive.
Yet they stay together in the one room, the room that
seems to provide a shelter from the outside world,
a comfort zone and a place where all the good technology
lives. We played big brother to 15 families over a
two month period to see what really happened in the
living room and we saw that the living room was indeed
that, living. If you are interested in the research
outcomes of The Living Room, please contact Sue Peters
at enquiry@teleconomy.com.
|
FEEDBACK