Between 75% and 80% of television viewing will remain in the linear television viewing environment for the next 10 years in Western Europe and the US, and the 30 second spot will continue to dominate in television advertising. That is the view of Simon Thomas, Strategic Analytics & Insight Systems Director at GroupM EMEA, the brand communications company that encompasses media planning and buying and analytics and insight, among other things. He believes the impact of time-shifting has been over-stated and that while VOD will be big it will be so in certain consumer segments, notably the hard-to-reach, young up-market adults and early adopters.
However, when it comes to the mass-market, Thomas believes people are frightened by choice. “When it comes to channel selections, we still have 90% of viewing across the top ten channels,” he notes. “People don’t like to make choices. TV is very much a lean-back environment and increasingly so with the flat screen, surround sound and increasing penetration of HD.”
