Sure, we’re part of one human family, but it’s fun to compare different geographic areas to each other. Washington State taken as a whole has differences from the nation in terms of TV viewing. Here’s some examples.
The anchor for this post is a Comcast-sponsored survey about TV viewing habits. You’ll see the story in various places, starting from a news release you might want to take a look at if you are really crazed for TV statistics. I’m not surprised people want to see Hawaii Five-O, but the numbers surprised me. By many percentage points, Hawaii Five-O is the most-anticipated Fall program.
Then there’s a national news story about “time-shifting,” how people are more and more often watching TV when they want to watch TV – not tied to the clock. The Associated Press story begins “If you’ve never time-shifted a prime-time television series — watched it later on a DVR, over the Internet or ordered it on demand — you’re now in the minority.” People are choosing to watch TV at times convenient for them
We asked for some Washington State numbers out of his survey and here’s what we learned:
- We love our DVRS: Viewers plan to watch TV series this fall season through a variety of different platforms. Significantly more Washington State viewers expect to use a DVR to record shows (54% in Washington vs. 41%) or watch via On Demand than the nationwide viewers (28% vs. 16%).
- We’re all about the drama: Washington viewers are slightly more likely than nationwide viewers to plan to watch dramas (80% vs. 75%), comedies (72% vs. 68%), and reality shows (43% vs. 38%) this fall. On the other hand, Washington viewers are slightly less likely to watch movies (50% vs. 57%), and sports shows this fall than the national audience (41% vs. 45%).
- Video On Demand is clearly mainstream now: If Washington viewers miss one of their favorite TV shows this fall and know they can see it via their video-on-demand service, more than three-quarters (81%) said they would watch it via their VOD service to catch up.
- Prime Time is still prime: More than three-quarters of Seattle consumers regularly watch primetime TV (83%). There are 46% of Washington primetime viewers who either watch or record five or more primetime series in a typical week; 36% watch or record three-four primetime series a week
- We like Hawaii: When asked about five particular new TV series this fall, both National and Seattle consumers stated they are most excited about Hawaii Five-O (40% and 47%), although much more in Seattle, followed by No Ordinary Family (23% and 25%) and The Event (21% and 17%).
