Friday, 12 November 2010
Primary research - interview
interview with Peter turner
I conducted a 10 minute interview with Peter Turner, who has worked in media industries for over 20 years. He has a great interest in how the TV industry is evolving. I wanted to use his knowledge to answer some of my questions about the funding of advertising and popularity of TV on demand. Before starting I explained what I was trying to achieve and recorded Peter Turner’s answers in quick note form as he spoke. This had downfalls because I could sometimes not write fast enough and had to ask him to repeat answers. It also means that this write up does not contain exactly what he said word for word. I asked 9 questions, but below find the information I thought valuable enough to record and publish for use in my report. :
1. Do you often use TV on demand? If so, what for?
Answer- I have very recently got into using the BBC iplayer quite often because I have such little time to watch TV. Also, I’m often very tired when i get home from work and sometimes fall asleep during a program I really want to see(he laughs). Before we used to only have one chance to see the shows but now i can pretty much watch it whenever i want. I know my daughter uses 4OD pretty much every day, so they must be doing something right.
Answer- I have very recently got into using the BBC iplayer quite often because I have such little time to watch TV. Also, I’m often very tired when i get home from work and sometimes fall asleep during a program I really want to see(he laughs). Before we used to only have one chance to see the shows but now i can pretty much watch it whenever i want. I know my daughter uses 4OD pretty much every day, so they must be doing something right.
2. What do you find the advantages and disadvantages of TV on demand are?
answer - I think everyone has become so used to everything just being at our finger tips, but for example BBC iplayer removes shows from their site 7 days after they are aired. People get annoyed when they cant access everything they want when they want it so downloading it illeagally. However the concept of TV on demand obviously has many advantages. It means you no longer have to fit your life around the TV guide because it fits around you. I don’t thin i know anyone who hasn’t used it at some point. Now of course they have realised the money you can make from advertising on these sites and i imagine the number of adverts during programs will continue to grow.
answer - I think everyone has become so used to everything just being at our finger tips, but for example BBC iplayer removes shows from their site 7 days after they are aired. People get annoyed when they cant access everything they want when they want it so downloading it illeagally. However the concept of TV on demand obviously has many advantages. It means you no longer have to fit your life around the TV guide because it fits around you. I don’t thin i know anyone who hasn’t used it at some point. Now of course they have realised the money you can make from advertising on these sites and i imagine the number of adverts during programs will continue to grow.
3. And do you think the growing number of adverts is necessary or just a profit making scheme?
answer – Oh I imagine it is vital for the commercial companies survival. The introduction of TV on demand has made TV ratings drop dramatically, because people know they can watch the programs whenever they want. The lower the ratings for a TV show, the less the company can charge for advertising time. The evolution of the internet allows companies to target adverts at niche audiences because they can track the kind of sites you go on and draw a conclusion of what type of person you are. People often discuss where the line should be, when does demographic research become stalking? Channel 4 has been forced to branch out and find other ways to make money, so internet advertising is an obvious way to do that. However there seem to be constant adverts for other programs on 4OD which are becoming quite tedious. (He adds...)Although because you are on the computer I usually just switch to another page for a while.
answer – Oh I imagine it is vital for the commercial companies survival. The introduction of TV on demand has made TV ratings drop dramatically, because people know they can watch the programs whenever they want. The lower the ratings for a TV show, the less the company can charge for advertising time. The evolution of the internet allows companies to target adverts at niche audiences because they can track the kind of sites you go on and draw a conclusion of what type of person you are. People often discuss where the line should be, when does demographic research become stalking? Channel 4 has been forced to branch out and find other ways to make money, so internet advertising is an obvious way to do that. However there seem to be constant adverts for other programs on 4OD which are becoming quite tedious. (He adds...)Although because you are on the computer I usually just switch to another page for a while.
4. Would you ever consider paying for TV on demand?
answer – ooh I don’t know about that. I already pay a TV licence so don’t see why I should have to contribute more just because I am watching it on the internet, not a TV. If there was no other way, there may be the odd occasion where I would pay a bit to watch something I desperately needed to. Otherwise, I think that would be an unfair system and they would definitely have to get rid of the adverts which I think they would make more money off than customers. I do however now pay for The Times online, and I never thought I would pay for online news so I guess as the situation changes, people change their attitudes.
answer – ooh I don’t know about that. I already pay a TV licence so don’t see why I should have to contribute more just because I am watching it on the internet, not a TV. If there was no other way, there may be the odd occasion where I would pay a bit to watch something I desperately needed to. Otherwise, I think that would be an unfair system and they would definitely have to get rid of the adverts which I think they would make more money off than customers. I do however now pay for The Times online, and I never thought I would pay for online news so I guess as the situation changes, people change their attitudes.
Friday, 5 November 2010
Focus group (primary research)
BEFORE:
I think the my session went well. all of my participents were engaged and gave valid information. Although there were disagreements, I think this benefitted me because it showed different peoples point of views. We stayed on topic for the whole 10 minutes and I felt TV on demand was something all of the participents knew about and had an opinion on.
A lot of the group commented on how the genius of TV on demand is that it fits around your own life so you never have to chose between watching your favourite program and going out etc...It is freedom. They said the most common reason to use TV on demand is if you are catching up on a program you like, but others argue that they often use it instead of the TV when they are board. The group agreed that the amount of time they spend on TV on demand sites was increasing and their amount of time in front of the TV was decreasing. This would suggest a drop in ratings. Some members of the group had a TV that did not work so they could only use TV on demand. 'why pay for a new TV if i can watch most things i want for free?'
Everyone in the group agreeed that a main advantage of the 4OD site is that you can do a whole series catch up and watch archive footage from programs made a long time ago. They say this is because Channel 4 owns a lot of the content of the site so can do what they want with the programs, where as other on demand sites have to pay more to keep the shows online longer.
The group then had dissagreements about the quality of the videos on the sites. Aisha said that although she uses TV on demand when needed, the quality is so bad that she cant enjoy is as much as real TV shows.she argues that the image is extremely pixilated and the programs often stop half way through to load. Others in the group say this is down to the quality of her computer and internet conection.
Sam brought up the topic of the age limit system. One member of the group said there was a password she had to enter to access content for older veiwers but no one else in the group had this system in place. all you have to do to prove your age is tick a box, even a three year old can manage that though.
Other remarks made:
Sam Leach will be the leader for my focus group, as I will be an objective observer and will need time to collect and record the information. At the beginning he needs to explain I am trying to achieve by this form of primary research. He will say that I am researching how and why people use TV on demand in the modern day. I will then ask Sam to read out the main questions I want to answer:
· How has the vastly growing popularity of T.V on demand effected the world of advertising?
· Has the price of TV advertising dropped because of this new access to programs?
· Why is TV on demand so popular?
· How have channels secured funding for online TV?
· Would people be willing to pay for TV on demand? (how much/ what demographics?)
As I am using my class mates to run this focus group, I do not have a range of demographics to give me different answers, however the psychographics in the group may vary. Also, some of these questions may be difficult for my participants to answer (as they may not know a lot about the cost of advertising etc..).
Questions I will use:
1. How often do you use TV on demand?
2. How easy is it to access?
3. What are the benefits of TV on demand?
4. If you were forced to pay for on demand TV, would you? Or would you find another possibly illegal way to access programs?
5. Have you noticed the rise in the amount of adverts? Has it effected you viewing pleasure?
6. What do you think the main disadvantages of TV on demand are?
AFTER:I think the my session went well. all of my participents were engaged and gave valid information. Although there were disagreements, I think this benefitted me because it showed different peoples point of views. We stayed on topic for the whole 10 minutes and I felt TV on demand was something all of the participents knew about and had an opinion on.
A lot of the group commented on how the genius of TV on demand is that it fits around your own life so you never have to chose between watching your favourite program and going out etc...It is freedom. They said the most common reason to use TV on demand is if you are catching up on a program you like, but others argue that they often use it instead of the TV when they are board. The group agreed that the amount of time they spend on TV on demand sites was increasing and their amount of time in front of the TV was decreasing. This would suggest a drop in ratings. Some members of the group had a TV that did not work so they could only use TV on demand. 'why pay for a new TV if i can watch most things i want for free?'
Everyone in the group agreeed that a main advantage of the 4OD site is that you can do a whole series catch up and watch archive footage from programs made a long time ago. They say this is because Channel 4 owns a lot of the content of the site so can do what they want with the programs, where as other on demand sites have to pay more to keep the shows online longer.
The group then had dissagreements about the quality of the videos on the sites. Aisha said that although she uses TV on demand when needed, the quality is so bad that she cant enjoy is as much as real TV shows.she argues that the image is extremely pixilated and the programs often stop half way through to load. Others in the group say this is down to the quality of her computer and internet conection.
Sam brought up the topic of the age limit system. One member of the group said there was a password she had to enter to access content for older veiwers but no one else in the group had this system in place. all you have to do to prove your age is tick a box, even a three year old can manage that though.
Other remarks made:
- PS3s have built in BBC iplayer with good quality
- Iplayer runs out after a week, ITV catch up runs out after 30 days
- most would never pay for TV on demand. one participant said they would if it was extremely cheap.
- TV and internet should merge.
- Since they have started charging for on-line newspapers people seem to think its alright to pay for internet content but the majority of the group say it has not changed their opinion.
- sky plus is a better alternative.
- not being able to skip adverts is frustrating. But you cant skip them on TV
- the companies have more opportunity to make money from sponsorship and extra advertising.
- YOU CAN WATCH IT IN BED
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Source table....but not in a table.
| The information below was previously in a table. each of the links represents a site which I have found to use in my research. below the links (or book titles) is information about how i found them and how reliable they are. 29.9.10 |
Change of topic. Started secondary research again.
http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.1258
Through google
| In their ‘about us section they have a paragraph on the importance of the quality of their research beginning ‘Research is integral to Thinkbox…’
|
| http://www.uswitch.com/digital-tv/catch-up-tv-on-demand/ - what is TV on demand? |
| Came up as a hit on google. |
| Claims to be ‘free and impartial’ But we can never be sure this is the whole truth. |
| http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/dec/18/tv-advertising-survive-on-demand - advertising will survive |
| I Simply typed in the media guardian website. |
| ‘The most important currency of the Guardian is trust. This is as true today as when CP Scott marked the centenary of the founding of the paper with his famous essay on journalism in 1921.’ This leads me to believe the site is unbiased. |
| Tells me benefits of TV on demand. Found through an ‘ask’ search. |
| This is a sales site so it is unlikely the information will be objective. This is frustrating because I do not want biased information in my research. |
| Found through a link at the bottom of a guardian page. |
| OCR Media studies for A2 third edition – 2009 (book) Hodder Education Julian McDougall Pages 97/97 |
| Found by reading through the index of 3 books. This was the only one with relevant information. |
http://www.nma.co.uk/opinion/web-tv-success-shows-way-ahead-for-regular-tv-funding/39274.article
| Found through a google search. |
| After reading the article I found it was unreliable because it is out of date. (2008) |
| http://browse.guardian.co.uk/search/all/Media/Television+industry?lDim=N%3D4294926105&search=TV+on+demand&search _target=%2Fsearch%2FTelevision%2B%26%2Bradio&N=3375&fr=cb-guardian – Audio research Found through a Bing search.
|
| I wrote about this site on my blog |
Our teacher introduced this site to us
| It does not work in their favour to be bias. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_on_demand
| I would need to back up this information with other sources because Wikipedia can be unreliable. |
| http://books.google.com/books?id=Wnta_vrUWLoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=video+on+demand&hl=en&ei=tKisTLaGA8nNswbQ1aW4BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false – (book) video on demand – television for a new millenium. By: Kristoph kotch |
| Looked up related topics on Google books to get suggestions on books to find. |
| http://allyours.virginmedia.com/sites/video-on-demand/# - advertises the advantages of tv on demand but may not be useful for my research |
| From an advert link, advertising Virgin. |
| Virgin is going to have a bias representation of the TV industry as they will try and promote themselves. |
| After trying different Wikipedia searches, I found this one was relevant. |
| I would need to back up this information with other sources because Wikipedia can be unreliable. |
| Found through a Google search. |
| Includes valid information about the evolution of TV on demand. Written well. |
|
I visited the Media Guardian site.
An up to date article from a website I trust due to previous experience
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/8041978/Time-Warner-chief-Jeff-Bewkes-advises-against-ITV-paywall.html
Very current
suggested to me by a friend
| Activities | Sources found | How found? | Reliable? | ||
| 29.9.10 | Change of topic. Started secondary research again. | Through google | In their ‘about us section they have a paragraph on the importance of the quality of their research beginning ‘Research is integral to Thinkbox…’ | |||
| 5.10.10 09.10.10 11.10.10 | Started collecting my 18 sources and checking they are reliable. | http://www.uswitch.com/digital-tv/catch-up-tv-on-demand/ - what is TV on demand? http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/dec/18/tv-advertising-survive-on-demand - advertising will survive OCR Media studies for A2 third edition – 2009 (book) Hodder Education Julian McDougall Pages 97/97 http://browse.guardian.co.uk/search/all/Media/Television+industry?lDim=N%3D4294926105&search=TV+on+demand&search _target=%2Fsearch%2FTelevision%2B%26%2Bradio&N=3375&fr=cb-guardian – Audio research http://books.google.com/books?id=Wnta_vrUWLoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=video+on+demand&hl=en&ei=tKisTLaGA8nNswbQ1aW4BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false – (book) video on demand – television for a new millenium. By: Kristoph kotch http://allyours.virginmedia.com/sites/video-on-demand/# - advertises the advantages of tv on demand but may not be useful for my research. http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_RO/ro/insights/deloitte-research/9c3b5a1264001210VgnVCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm - about advertising | Came up as a hit on google. I Simply typed in the media guardian website. Tells me benefits of TV on demand. Found through an ‘ask’ search. Found through a link at the bottom of a guardian page. Found by reading through the index of 3 books. This was the only one with relevant information. Found through a google search. Found through a Bing search. I wrote about this site on my blog Our teacher introduced this site to us Looked up related topics on Google books to get suggestions on books to find. From an advert link, advertising Virgin. After trying different Wikipedia searches, I found this one was relevant. Found through a Google search. Must be registered Found through a Bing search. Through a Google search I visited the Media Guardian site. | Claims to be ‘free and impartial’ But we can never be sure this is the whole truth. ‘The most important currency of the Guardian is trust. This is as true today as when CP Scott marked the centenary of the founding of the paper with his famous essay on journalism in 1921.’ This leads me to believe the site is unbiased. This is a sales site so it is unlikely the information will be objective. This is frustrating because I do not want biased information in my research. After reading the article I found it was unreliable because it is out of date. (2008) Article written in 2007. Out of date but could be useful if I wanted to compare the situation now with four years ago. It does not work in their favour to be bias. I would need to back up this information with other sources because Wikipedia can be unreliable. Virgin is going to have a bias representation of the TV industry as they will try and promote themselves. I would need to back up this information with other sources because Wikipedia can be unreliable. Includes valid information about the evolution of TV on demand. Written well. Blocked on the school computer system and needs regestration. Not useful and has little information on my topic. This website claims ‘MarketResearch.com is the world's largest and continuously updated collection of market research’ Written last year and does not go into enough depth on my chosen topic. Not useful An up to date article from a website I trust due to previous experien |
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Reliable Websites
who what why where?
The internet provides us with extremely fast and easy access to lots of information. However it is vital that researchers don't believe everything they read on websites. an important research skill is knowing how to check if a source is reliable. In my research i will need to take the following factors into account:
Who: who wrote the information? are the people who add content to the website reliable and knowledgable? Is it the appropriate to answer your questions? There is often a 'about us' link which might tell you this information.
What: What kind of websire is it? Blogs and forums are contributed to by the general public, their information may not be so reliable. For example when using wikipedia as a source you must take into account that almost anyone can add information to it, although it may be difficult sometimes it is still possible.
Why: why is the information there? People often use the internet as a persuasive tool. For example a band trying to promote themselves will say they are extremely popular and make the best music on the planet. This of course is an extreme exageration of the truth and a very opinionated statement.
When: when was the information entered? I am researching quite a modern topic. A website from 2000 will have little information on the effects of TV on demand because it did not exist. checking the dates a website was last updated is important as the information may have changed.
The internet provides us with extremely fast and easy access to lots of information. However it is vital that researchers don't believe everything they read on websites. an important research skill is knowing how to check if a source is reliable. In my research i will need to take the following factors into account:
Who: who wrote the information? are the people who add content to the website reliable and knowledgable? Is it the appropriate to answer your questions? There is often a 'about us' link which might tell you this information.
What: What kind of websire is it? Blogs and forums are contributed to by the general public, their information may not be so reliable. For example when using wikipedia as a source you must take into account that almost anyone can add information to it, although it may be difficult sometimes it is still possible.
Why: why is the information there? People often use the internet as a persuasive tool. For example a band trying to promote themselves will say they are extremely popular and make the best music on the planet. This of course is an extreme exageration of the truth and a very opinionated statement.
When: when was the information entered? I am researching quite a modern topic. A website from 2000 will have little information on the effects of TV on demand because it did not exist. checking the dates a website was last updated is important as the information may have changed.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
breaking down the steps of research
- know what you want to find out. Ask your self the appropriate questions which you want answered.
- Narrow down your research - decide what media texts you will use to find out about the your subject in more detail.
- First use a very general source of knowledge (e.g. wikipedia) to get an understanding and your first peices of information. This source should lead you to pages with more deapth on the topic.
- Use double click ad planner. This allows you to see audience profiles and who/how many people use each website. Check out the statisticks to come to a conclusion about the demographic of your audience.
- Look to see if they are american websites or UK websites.
- analyse how people got to those particular websites. this tells you their interests.
- hunt for directories
- write up the research process and information you have collected.
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