Turkey leads tablet TV boom

Video content consumption on non TV devices is booming, with 70 percent of people in leading nations using tablets, desktop PCs, laptops, smart phones, or MP3 players, to view broadcast content.

The survey by screen market research group NPD DisplaySearch, found that tablet TV viewing had risen quickly over the last year in all leading nations, with Turkey recording the fastest growth from 3.1 percent of the population in 2011 to 16.5 percent in 2012. Next came Germany with a four-fold increase to around 7 percent, followed by the U.S. and France rising 3x.

But, China’s urban regions led both in absolute numbers and tablet TV penetration rate, with almost 35 percent of people viewing content that way, up from 22 percent a year earlier. Next was Russia, followed closely by Indonesia in third place, both just short of 15 percent. This reflects the high penetration of wireless networks in these three countries, leading to greater consumption of video content on both smart phones and tablets. In mature markets such as the U.S., UK, and Germany, on the other hand, a greater proportion of people watch video content on PCs and laptops. For this reason, the level of tablet TV viewing does not exactly represent the pattern of content consumption across all non TV devices.

“While the trends vary by region, it is evident that consumers around the globe are watching more video and TV content with their portable electronic devices as these provide additional means of accessing content,” noted Riddhi Patel, Research Director of Consumer Insights for NPD DisplaySearch. “Despite this increase, however, TVs still remain the primary device of choice for viewing TV content, with 30 percent of consumers reporting that they view TV and video content on TVs alone.”