Since 1920’s, when Television was invented, it has dominated the global media for nearly a century. Television has 61.4% share in global Ad spending, and still entertains largest audience worldwide (since there is no worldwide body which tracks exact figures related to audience of Television, however it is supposed to be more than 4 Billion). In this era of technology, with a flurry of mobile devices coming in, consumers now want content on demand. They want to watch, what they want and when they want.
“Change” being the only constant in the world, things around the world have changed and so has the primitive television. With digitalization of Television, users can now record digitally and watch at their own leisure; users can set up parental controls so their kids can only watch what they want; and users can create favorites for easy return. Now with the smart TVs and IP TVs coming into picture, television is going to change further. Since these smart TVs are connected to broadband internet connections, users can now search content, browse videos and even run applications on their smart TV.
Gartner, has predicted, 85% of all the flat panel TVs produced in 2016 will be smart TV. Worldwide unit production of flat-panel smart TVs will grow from 69 million in 2012 to 198 million in 2016. Nearly 3X Increase in demand, but however, providing smart TVs alone would not stimulate users demand. Manufactures have to come-up with some path-breaking features, which would coercion the users to buy their smart TV.
“In the end, the choice may be all about the extra content that one TV brand offers over another. Consumers will be asking questions such as, which Internet TV services can the TV access? Are these the sites I think are valuable? Can I use my Smartphone or tablet with this TV?” said Paul O’Donovan, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Television being the most influential source of media (it influences 64% searches on internet in India) is also becoming the central component in bringing together the multiple screens. Smart TV has to be more interactive, should enable viewers to access wide range of content that, until recently, these features have only been available on PCs, Smart phones and Tablets. Smart TV producers should always remember; content is the king, if users are provided with what they want in minimum time, their product will definitely emerge as a winner.
