(25 August 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: A new IBM online survey of consumer digital media and entertainment habits shows that audiences are more in control than ever and increasingly savvy about filtering marketing messages.

The global findings overwhelmingly suggest personal Internet time rivals TV time.

Among consumer respondents, 19 percent stated spending six hours or more per day on personal Internet usage, versus nine percent of respondents who reported the same levels of TV viewing. 66 percent reported viewing between one to four hours of TV per day, versus 60 percent who reported the same levels of personal internet usage.

Consumers are seeking consolidated, trustworthy content, recognition and community when it comes to mobile and internet entertainment. Armed with PC, mobile and interactive content and tools, consumers are vying for control of attention, content and creativity. Despite natural lags among marketers, advertising revenues will follow consumers’ habits.

To effectively respond to this power shift, IBM sees ad agencies going beyond traditional creative roles to become brokers of consumer insights; cable companies evolving to home media portals; and broadcasters and publishers racing toward new media formats. Marketers in turn are being forced to experiment and make advertising more compelling, or risk being ignored.

Consumers are demonstrating their desire for both wired and wireless access to content. An average of 81 per cent of consumers surveyed globally indicated they have watched or want to watch PC video and an average of 42 per cent indicated they have watched or want to watch mobile video.

Given the rising power of individuals and communities, media and entertainment industry players will have to become much better at providing permission-based advertising and related consumer-driven ratings services.

The steady growth of consumer adoption of digital music, video, and other entertainment services - though markets are still small by comparison to traditional media - show households are no longer "one size fits all," and content providers and marketers must follow suit.

23 per cent of respondents reported using a portable music service (e.g. iTunes); seven per cent reported having a video content subscription for their mobile phones; 11 per cent reported a PC-based music service and 18 per cent reported an online newspaper subscription.

The IBM Institute for Business Value survey of more than 2,400 households in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Australia covered global usage and adoption of new multimedia devices and media and entertainment consumption on PCs, mobile phones, portable media players and more.

Television Viewing Shifts : In the largest digital video recorder market, 24 per cent of US respondents reported owning a DVR in their home and watching at least 50 per cent of television programming on replay. Surprisingly, 33 percent in the U.S. reported watching more television content than before the DVR.

Online Content Trends : Consumers are increasingly contributing to online video or social networking sites. Nine per cent of German and seven percent of U.S. respondents claim to have contributed to a user-generated content site; 26 per cent of US respondents reported contributing to a social networking site.

Mobile Content Trends : In the UK, nearly a third of users who watch mobile TV reduced their standard TV set viewing patterns as a result of new mobile device services. 18 percent said they reduced 'normal' television by a little and another eight per cent reduced 'normal' television by a lot; four per cent substituted television on their regular TV with their new device altogether.