back to article Hot, young under-25s: Lonely slab strokers who shun TV

The next generation of millennial kids are a lonely group of slab-fondlers who would rather watch films and movies alone in their bedrooms, it has been claimed. According to a survey from Deloitte, teens and people in their twenties have ditched the telly and now spend more time watching stuff on their smartphones, computers …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. pacman7de

    Stating the obvious ..

    I said basically the same thing in a previous post ..

    --

    "TV sales are falling everywhere. It’s kind of official, but people are still prepared to argue about it. The number of LCD screens are being forecast to recover but no one is giving a reason why"

    'Because no one under thirty is watching television .. or listening to the electric wireless` ...

    10 thumbs up & 7 thumbs down .. ref

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: Stating the obvious ..

      The ones under thirty are watching TV, just not on a TV. They are watching it on a fondleslab or their laptop.

      It is not watching tellie which is dead. It is watching tellie together which has finally kicked the bucket. With every teenager having a tellie in his room it was on long term life support anyway. It has now finally kicked the bucket.

      1. Matt 21

        Re: Stating the obvious ..

        I haven't seen any evidence that under 30s are no longer watching TV. Sulky teenagers who don't want to watch what Mum and Dad are watching, yes they retreat to their rooms to watch things on whatever devices they have to hand. The same is true of some of those in their 20s which haven't managed to leave home.

        The evidence seems to be though, that those who can afford TVs watch them. It seems to me that it's a mistake to confuse what teenagers do because they haven't got the cash/ability to do otherwise with what they will do when they grow up.

        My kids will watch stuff on a PC if they don't like what I'm watching but they're back on the TV as soon as I go out.

        1. Daniel B.

          Re: Stating the obvious ..

          It depends on which 20-somethings group you're checking. Even 30-somethings. I've mostly retreated to Netflix (I'm 32) because I am rarely at home so I don't see the value in having cable TV, and Mexican OTA programming is awful. Series on OTA lag so far behind current seasons that the teens and 20-somethings are simply watching 'em online instead.

          I really really know that I'm mostly using my TV as a PS3 screen most of the time, the exception being late-night TV when some interesting (but sadly, cancelled in the US) series show up.

          1. ThomH

            Re: Stating the obvious ..

            The under 30 tag does seem to be arbitrary: this isn't a fashion thing, it's an accessibility thing and the Internet is no more natural to those born in the '90s than to those born in the '80s. Either it showed up before you were an adult or it didn't.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well I am an (admittedly late ) 20 something and only watch TV on our iPad when I am on the train or Coach. When I am at home I can't think of anything worse than shutting myself in the bedroom when I have a perfectly good 42" TV sitting in the front room! Want to be comfy whilst watching TV? Get a proper sofa with seats tha swallow you up and a nice Duvet / sleeping bag! Me and the OH wouldn't do anything else!

    But then I also have an Office with a proper desktop. Stuck in the past obviously.

    To the Commenter(s) saying TV sales have gone down - yes they have but that is more likely to do with nothing interesting has really happened in TV for most people since HD which caused a massive and unsustainable sales spike and there is little to tempt viewers up to 4K yet. People don't really care about smart TVs or 3D, my 8 year old Toshiba is just fine, and I will replace it when it becomes truly obsolete (IE when we have Sky 4K) or when it gives up the ghost.

  3. Necronomnomnomicon

    I dunno about the US but it certainly makes sense over here in the UK

    What with us yoof not getting on the property ladder until so much later, we're fighting our parents or housemates to view anything on the living room telly. So of course we're watching on secondary devices.

  4. taxman

    Going against the trend

    Being from the 'Boomer years' I don't have a telly, don't want one and can't really see the need for one. Laptop and 26" monitor with speakers is quite adequate for watching the rare programme from BBC on iPlayer (didn't get that one Apple! - sorry and the logging in aspect of the commercial channels is a pain) or for watching DVDs/Bluray.

    And now Amazon/Lovefilm are introducing unlimited film streaming even less of a need for a telly and the £140+ licence to pay for the extortionate paypackets of lovvies and "DJs". Any sport can be watched in the company of others in the pub - supporting local business and enterprise - as many people who have a telly do as well.

    1. Ben Rosenthal

      Re: Going against the trend

      You still need a TV license to watch from a PC.

      1. Pete Spicer
        Boffin

        Re: Going against the trend

        You do not need a TV licence to watch TV from a PC provided you are not watching 'live TV', i.e. shows as they are broadcast.

        Ref: http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/about_bbc_iplayer/tvlicence

        "You do not need a television licence to catch-up on television programmes in BBC iPlayer, only when you watch or record at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is being broadcast or otherwise distributed to the public. In BBC iPlayer, this is through the Watch Live simulcast option.

        Anyone in the UK watching or recording television as it's being broadcast or simulcast on any device - including mobiles, laptops and PCs - must, by law, be covered by a valid TV licence.

        A 'live' TV programme is a programme, which is watched or recorded at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is being broadcast or otherwise distributed to members of the public. As a general rule, if a person is watching a programme on a computer or other device at the same time as it is being shown on TV then the programme is 'live'. This is sometimes known as simulcasting."

        Note you can substitute ITV Player, 4OD or 5 Catch-up (or whatever it's called now) for BBC iPlayer and everything still holds up true.

  5. Crisp

    Don't have a telly here either.

    It's just easier to download shows off the internet and watch them at your convenience. Or indeed, in your convenience.

    1. This Side Up

      Re: Don't have a telly here either.

      I find it easier to record programmes off air and watch them later because you can then fast forward or edit out all the ads and other crap. That's a lot harder if you use catch-up tv services on the web. A typical one hour Channel 5 programme comes down to 40 minutes when you delete the dross.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wow

    Groundbreaking stuff here. So, young people like to use tablets, computers and phones. This research certainly offers an unprecidented insight into today's society, no mistake. Who would have known this without Deloitte telling us. Thanks Deloitte!

  7. Salavora

    Why is "watching on Laptop/PC/Tablet" always associated with "watching alone"?

    I have a very old TV (about 15 years old now), which I use to play WII games and watching soccer during international championchips (The streams are horrible at the time), but I don't use it for anything else.

    When I have friends over to watch stuff (DVD, File or stream), we use my Computer (Its screen is 19" if I am not mistaken and hence biggern then my ancient TV Screen anyway). There you don't (or seldom) have ad-breaks in the middle of stuff, you can watch anything at anytime, you can binge watch if you so choose, you can pause at any time you want. All those arguments count againts watching anything on a regular TV Screen.

    An other friend did away with TV entirely and has everything connected to his projector and hence watches everything from games to Bluerays on his entire wall. (Ok, maybee not in the best HD possible, but heh, who needs that when they can watch in ~ 3 meters by 5 meters)

    So: Just because we don't use a TV or watch the stuff they provide on cable doesn't mean we are always watching everything on our own...

    We just use an other Device and an other source, but still like to watch stuff as a group.

    1. Matt 21

      ....and similarly, just because I watch things on a TV doesn't mean I'm watching live broadcast TV. 99% of what I watch on the TV is either stuff I record and watch when it suits me (and so I can skip the ads and pause when I want) or it's downloaded.

    2. DropBear

      When I have friends over to watch stuff (DVD, File or stream), we use my Computer

      Well, the typical TV set is still larger than a 19" monitor - what you're talking about is usually done by piping the PC's video output into the nearest, properly-large-screened TV. Pretty much all PCs can output complex video, S-video and / or HDMI these days.

      Also, please don't confuse not watching TV with the family ("horrible people one is condemned to live with and tolerate out of necessity") with watching TV with friends ("like-minded people one actually congregates with voluntarily").

  8. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

    Format important

    I think that the format of the media is also a factor.

    Unless you have a computer, tablet or phone with an HDMI port (or you have some expensive Smart TV or STB), you are unlikely to watch digitally delivered media on the large screen in the living room. You will watch it on another device, because it's easier. I also find this is the case for personally ripped media.

    That is until you get a device that sits in the living room, receives digital media, and can play it on the big screen. When that happens, you move back to the TV (as long as you have control of it).

    I can plug my phone and my tablet into the living room TV, and it is more useful than you might think, extending what you use the TV for. I also use Sky On Demand, and a number of internet capable devices like BluRay players and consoles in various places around the house, attached to different TVs. If I can use the TV, I will.

    I will be interesting interesting to see whether Roku and similar devices catch on before people start replacing their current TVs.

    1. Joe Harrison

      Re: Format important

      Spot on, no matter what the digital source of your video it's still much nicer to do the actual watching plonked on a sofa with your feet up in front of a big screen. Tons of choice of weird little boxes you can plug into your telly but I still think XBMC (running on a proper PC) wins hands down for watchability.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: Format important

        "I still think XBMC (running on a proper PC) wins hands down for watchability."

        Same here, but RaspBMC on a Pi. Server in the attic with all our local media accessible to all devices in the house but it's rare to watch a TV show or film on anything other than the big TV and the PVR or RaspBMC.

  9. John Tserkezis

    Hollywood crapola vs the entire fucking web.

    Pretty obvious choice here.

    I'm way past being a Gen Y'er, and that has nothing to do with it. Look at the available content.

  10. Jim 59

    TV

    15 year olds are watching slabs in their bedroom

    65 years olds are watching big telly downstairs

    Could this be because 15 year olds are too poor to afford their own house and massive TV.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Its because of price

    Once you add up all the ancillary costs, cable/satellite TV can easily exceed $100/month. Its a value judgment for them, cell phone and internet are absolutely far more important. And they do own a TV....what do you think they plug their Playstation/XBox into?

  12. fridaynightsmoke

    29. Don't watch TV any more.

    In reply to various people above, I'm 29 and certainly can afford a TV, which currently gets watched for a total of around 2 hours a week. It gets used to display TV programmes from the computer for perhaps the same again, making total TV watching about 4 hours per week.

    Among people I know TV just isn't relevant to them any more. It's not even as though they're watching it all through iPlayer (etc) either, they're just *not watching*. The internet, whether Youtube clips or forums, games and so on is their primary source of entertainment.

  13. disgruntled yank

    can't think of a title.

    Curiously timely: http://xkcd.com/1348/

  14. SteveCarr

    Never ever watch live tv

    I'm a very long way off being gen y being a boomer from 57. Yes we have a 51 inch plasma 3d screen but it plays from our media server with 5tb of movies and tv series as do our laptops and tablets. No adverts and watch only what we want when we want. Only idiots watch the idiot box as the advertisers want you to.

  15. BenBell

    No wonder 1 in 10 kids (or whatever it was) are looking at porn by the time they leave primary school!

  16. cortland

    Eschew edutainment, embrace ASCII!

    Under 25? I'm almost 70!

    I threw out my TV in 1997 and boycott film -- nor do I watch streaming video on my Surface or Win 8.1 Acer tablet; there are not enough GigaBytes of affordable bandwidth even if I wanted to.

    Having spent some time on an aerospace contract in Burbank, I saw enough Hollywood dreck on the hotel TV that I wish for the return of all-news-all-day AM radio. The BBC on shortwave? Brain of Britain? Alas...

    http://forums.delphiforums.com/callahan/messages/?msg=22248.1

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like