Connected TV: early insight from Virgin Media in changing consumer habits

Connected televisions are changing not only viewing habits but how we interact with televisions.

A report issued last week by Virgin Media gives insight into how consumer viewing habits are changing to embrace connected television.

Consumers are exploring new ways of finding the programme that they want to watch and are using apps to engage with television content according to Virgin Media.

Users are discovering programme content via search rather than from the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) and almost 80 per cent of all TiVo set-top boxes were used to access an app and, on average, each box launched apps 4.5 times a week.

Enabling viewers to access content via search that would otherwise be buried down the EPG increases the audience for content that is popular via word-of-mouth.

The Virgin Media Entertainment Index is based on the viewing habits its 50,000 TiVo customers.

Across its entire subscriber base Virgin media said that customers made 484 million on demand views in the first half of 2011 – an increase of 19 per cent on the same period last year.