It’s always exciting when Ofcom brings out a new report. No, no I really mean that:) There is so much going on in the communications world and fair play to it Ofcom has the resources to produce some really interesting stats.
This time it’s the International Communications Market Report 2011. I’ve only just noticed that its out so haven’t had time to distill its 363 tightly packed pages into five paragraphs as is my usual wont. Don’t worry – that’ll be something to do another day.
In the interest of taking a break from work before going home I do, however, herewith provide you with a few choice morsels to keep you going until those five paragraphs are crafted.
Firstly I note that the UK is way down in the Pay-TV take-up league. Highest in this table are the Netherlands (98%) and Sweden (93%), alongside India (82%), the US (88%) and Canada (91%). The UK comes in at 52% which I’m sure must be a real source of frustration to Sky et al (well mostly just Sky I’m probably though I have no idea really what the relative market shares are).
I’m sure that you all spotted the same systematic error in the Ofcom research here. The UK likely ranks so low for pay TV because of the BBC. Well if you consider that we all actually pay for the BBC then we would probably come in at 100% and top the table.
Not sure I care either way though I have noticed I’ve started to watch some moreTV – just to spend time with the rest of the family who I might otherwise not come across that often1 🙂
Over a quarter (27%) of UK internet users claim to access TV content over the web (using any device) every week, up 3% in twelve months, driven by the popularity of online catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer and 4OD. This was the highest claimed usage among the six countries included in the Ofcom research, with take-up second highest in the US (23%), followed by Australia and France (both 17%).
In my small sample of one household I’d say that this was more like 100%. iPlayer and 4OD are homepages for some of the kids.
In 2010, the value of B2C e-commerce was almost £1000 per person in the UK. Four in five (79%) of UK internet users claimed to have purchased online, higher than in any other country in Europe. In January 2011, UK consumers spent an average of 84 minutes on retail sites, which reached 89% of all internet users.
I can tell you that in the Davies household these numbers are almost certainly dwarfed. All six of us buy online – that’s another 100% not four in five. In fact my 11 year old is hoping to provide the entire family with Christmas presents sourced from “free” giveaways from online retail sites. Apparently I’m getting a toaster.
What I end up with is neither here or there really but this year the family has bought online:
Airfares, Bags, Ballet shoes, Books, CDs, Christmas hampers, Clothes, drinks, Ebay stuff – bought and sold, Festival tickets – Latitude and Hop Farm, Flowers, Hotel stays, Laptops, Microsoft software, Music downloads, Olympics tickets, Photo album, Posters, Shoes, T shirts, Tennis bag, Tesco food orders, Tickets for Paul McCartney & others, train tickets, wine by the case.
Makes me nervous just looking at it. I think I need to go home and see what they are all up to on those computers!
PS I’ve just noticed this post is more than 5 paragraphs. Will have to work on my technique for tomorrow.
1 except of course when they are after money!
