going digital in the uk
TRANSCRIPT
Going Digital in the UKHeadlines from Ofcom’s 2nd Annual International Communications Report (2007)
Compiled by Andrew ClayDe Montfort University, Leicester, UK
Ofcom (Office of Communications) is an independent organisation which regulates the UK’s broadcasting, telecommunications and wireless communications sectors
It also sets and enforces rules on fair competition between companies in these industries
• The latest International Communications Market Report was published in November 2008:
• http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/cm/icmr08/
• The charts from the latest report are available on Slideshare:
• http://www.slideshare.net/comment.ofcom/international-communications-market-2008-presentation
Headline of the Ofcom International Communications Report (2007)
• ‘UK consumers better connected as digital communications grow globally’ (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2007/12/nr_20071213)
• The Second Annual International Communications Market Report (Ofcom, 12 December 2007)
• http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/cm/icmr07/ • compares the UK with eleven other countries: France, Germany,
Italy, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Canada and the United States
• The report also contains an insight into four countries that are at different stages of development in their communications markets: Brazil, Russia, India and China
Convergence
Converged Communications
• similar content is often packaged for distribution to the TV, computer and mobile phone
• An abundance of content is generated by users, and new questions are being raised about how best to manage rights
Digital connectivity – UK ahead in many areas
• The UK has the highest take-up of digital television of the twelve countries surveyed
• Digital radio is becoming increasingly popular in the UK with one in five adults owning a digital radio set
• Broadband take-up continues to increase in the UK with over half of all households connected at the end of 2006, putting the UK slightly ahead of the US for the first time
• UK adults spend more time on social networking sites than their European neighbours, with 4 in 10 UK adults saying that they regularly visit the sites
• UK adults who visit the sites spend an average of 5.3 hours each month on them and return to them an average 23 times in the month
• Advertisers in the UK spend more money per person on internet advertising than any other country, at £33.
Advertising Revenue
Mobile Phones
• Mobile is driving most of the communications sector growth and now accounts for 53 per cent of total telecoms revenues
• After making calls, mobiles are mainly used to send text messages
• 43 billion texts sent in the UK, an average of 621 per mobile user
Convergence on mobile phones• Accessing the internet from a mobile phone
is growing in popularity• Mobile handsets are increasingly being used in
other ways than for making calls• Over half of Europeans use their mobiles to take
photos and, in the UK, a quarter of users record their own video clips and listen to music through their mobile
• In the UK, 33% of mobile users send picture messages on their mobile, 16 per cent use it to connect to the internet and 10 per cent use their mobile for email
Television• Japanese and US consumers spend the most
time watching TV – both averaging 4.5 hours a day in 2006
• This compares to 3.5 hours a day for the UK• The growth of multichannel television was
highest in the UK
Radio
• People in the UK listen to more radio than in any other country surveyed, averaging over 21 hours per person each week
• Listening over the internet – which offers a choice of dedicated online stations and also established terrestrial radio stations – is also growing
Telecoms• Broadband is the fastest growing
communications sector accounting for 9 per cent of total telecoms revenue across the 12 countries in 2006
Global Communications• Telecoms revenue more than twice those of
broadcasting• Global communications revenue amounted to £873bn in
2006, with around 78% of this coming from telecoms (Figure
1.2)
Convergence (Ofcom Report)
• Content creation• Network convergence of content • Device convergence• Converged consumption
‘Advertainment’
• Convergence of advertising and entertainment, a new media genre?
• Paid publicity in goods and services that are directed at consumers who at the same time will be entertained (spend time being agreeably occupied)
• Example: T-Mobile ‘Dance’ TV advert (January 2009) – flash mobbing becomes branded entertainment
Content Creation
• Repackaging of broadcast material for internet and mobile
• Mixed-media, multi-format• Consumer control – user-generated content• Online advertising• Partnerships and mergers• Collaboration and competition
Content Revenue
Partnerships, mergers and acquisitions• importance of online advertising • facilitate the online trading of internet advertising, firms providing online
advertising services and software, and websites hosting user-generated content or providing social networking services
Mixed-media formats
• similar content is packaged for the television, the computer and the mobile handset
• content repackaging is being led by the mainstream broadcasters for accessibility over the available networks and devices
• and also adding extra content with which to exploit the opportunities afforded by different media, such as ringtones or wallpapers
‘User-generated content goes mainstream’
• Digital technologies have given consumers greater power to record and distribute their own content
• Not a new phenomenon, but greatly extended?• Many consumers now own and use devices with
which they can create their own digital content• For example, in addition to making voice calls and
sending SMS text messages, many mobile phones are now used to create other forms of content, in particular still photos and videos
• The mobile phone is becoming a hub for many functions which were previously only provided by standalone devices (device convergence)
Content quality and origin?
• Professionally-produced material is popular on user-generated content websites
Mobile phone use
‘Web 2.0 sites feature in the international top ten sites’
What is the internet used for?
‘The longer the video content, the less people watch it online’
• Video clip culture
Audio: online radio (c.33% usage)
The impact of the internet on offline activities
• In the UK 30% of internet users say they watch TV less as a result of having the internet, compared to only 9% of people who say they watch it more
Bibliography
Ofcom (2007) The International Communications Market 2007 [WWW] Available at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/cm/icmr07 (Accessed 13 January 2008).
Andrew Clay (28 January 2009)