Is TV Becoming "Irrelevant?"

Perceptions of "irrelevance" are not helpful to any would-be supplier of a product. But at least for some segments of the U.K. population, TV is becoming irrelevant.

Some 17 percent of U.K. teens would miss television if they did not have it, but 53 percent of female respondents would miss their mobile phones if they did not have them, according to Ofcom.

There are potentially significant implications for the video entertainment ecosystem, if those behaviors on the part of teens become adult habits.

Conversely, TV is among the most-favored media used by older adults. When asked what media would be missed the most, people over 75 are far more likely to miss their TVs the most (65 per cent), followed by radio (15 per cent) and newspapers/magazines (eight per cent).

The picture is very different for young adults aged 16 to 24 who would most miss their mobile phone (28 per cent), followed by the internet (26 per cent) and TV (23 per cent). 

Kids spent 17 hours each week accessing the Internet, about the same amount of time they spend watching TV. Nearly all (90 percent) of 12 - 15 year olds in the U.K. access the Internet every day, and weekly Internet usage continues to rise steadily. 

The point, obviously, is that television, as a product, already is less popular among younger consumers than among older consumers. Internet and mobile seem to be essential. 

So television marketers have a big problem: how to change the product to create more relevance for some consumer segments who, at present, don't find they want the product.

Packaging and pricing won't matter if it is the basic product some consumers find irrelevant.