New Research Reveals: Teens Control Television as They Decide What to Watch

This is part one of a three part series on our recent research on the TV habits of our Lab Members from all over the world. If you have questions or want a briefing for your organization, please let us know.

This spring, we asked our Lab Members to tell us about how they are using television. We wanted to know a few things including what devices they used to watch television, how they find and store programs and what would make the experience better for them.

What we learned offered a few surprises and emphasizes to us the importance of allowing the individual end user to adapt any service to meet their needs. Here are a few top-level results:

Time-Shifting is the Rule for Today’s Youth

It appears parents are no longer making television decisions for their children. Our Lab Members report having complete freedom to decide what they watch and when they watch it. Time shifting emerges as their primary concern as their busy schedules force them to look for programming alternatives.

- Nearly 100% of Lab members control what they watch

- More than half our members watch television programs on their computer

- More than half are storing television programs for later viewing

- Nearly two-thirds of our Lab Members are using a DVR to store their shows

Friends and Ads Heavily Influence Television Viewing

Despite the popularity of social networks, they aren’t being used to discuss television. While peer group advice is critical to learning what to watch, how they get that information comes down to an age old system – simple conversation.

- 80% of our members learn about show from friends and ads

- Almost 90% of Lab members share their opinions about TV programs, typically via word of mouth

- 14% use social networks to share opinions about television programs

Teens Want to Purchase What They See

We saw some of this in our convergence and shopping research – teens want to shop nearly all the time and that includes when they are watching television.

- 80% of the members have purchased something related to a television show they have watched

- Almost 20% have purchased a product that a character has used; clothing was the most purchased item

We’ll keep it coming with parts two and three when we’ll share a few of our recommendations based on what we learned from this research. Stay tuned!

Update: Read part two and part three!