The challenge of 15-24 year olds in Digital Entertainment

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The challengeof 15-24 year olds in
Digital Entertainment
Peter Olaf Looms
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This evenings menu

• Who I am and what I do
• DR and 15-24 year olds
• Highlights of research into youth and digital
  media
• A case Boogie
• Conclusions
• The future

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Who I am and what I do

• 1

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Who I am and what I do 1/3

• Full-time consultant at DR, a
  public service broadcaster - to inform,
  educate and entertain
• Strategic planning, mainly digital TV
  and broadband

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Who I am and what I do 2/3

• Teach postgraduate courses on project management
  and strategy
• Participate in RD projects (mobile content for
  youth, PVRs, interactivity and advertising)
• the University of Hong Kong
• the IT-University of Copenhagen
• EMMDIS MSc Programme - Cross Media
• Production -INA, Institut National
  dAudiovisuel, France
• Institute of Interactive Television Research,
  
• Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
• (October/December 2004)

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• The IT University of Copenhagen

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Who I am and what I do 3/3

• Current tasks
• Chairman of European standardisation programme
  for Personal Video Recorders
  (PVRs) in Europe
• Benchmarking of web, mobile digital TV projects
  in
  the Nordic countries
  within the Nordvision New Media group
• Strategic planning of DRs interactive media
  towards 2010

EICTA
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DR and the 15-24 years olds

• 2

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Supply of broadcast media in Danish - 1995
radio
tv
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Supply of broadcast media in Danish - 2004
radio
P5 P6
Altid Sport
tv
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Penetration of new media in Denmark -1995
0,9 1 33

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Penetration of new media in Denmark - 2004
82 78 90

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Penetration of new media since 1953
2 TVsets
Internet
Mobile phone
DVD
Games console
Digital TV
gt10 channels
Stereo-TV
Nicam surround
TTV
mobile
www
Sat-TV inkl. Fællesantenner, hybridnet og
paraboler
Sources Gallup Annual Survey, Gallup Index
Danmark og Danmarks Statistik
Bredbånd ADSL, kabel, m.m. Ikke ISDN
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Weekly television consumption (all Danes)
Hours/week
lt1
Slow rate of change
Source Gallup
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Weekly television consumption (Danes lt 30)
Hours/week
Rapid change...
lt1
Source Gallup
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DR has a problem...

• Youth and television

15-24 year olds have never watched much
TV. Currently 20 ofthem watch less than 15
minutes a week TV (TV drama in Danish) Source
Gallup TV-meter 2004
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DR has a problem...

• Youth and television
• Youth and radio

Average weekly listening in 2003 21 hours 54
mins.
Radio is on the decline There are many other
radio-like options...
Source DR
Whole population 12-19 year-olds Figures from
1998-2003
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DR has a problem...

• Youth and television
• Youth and radio
• Youth and other
• digital media

81 of all 8-12 year-olds Play PC games daily
52 play console games The average kid spends
nearly an hour a day playing electronic games
Source Gallup (2002) for Børnerådet/Youth Council
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DR has a problem...

• Youth and television
• Youth and radio
• Youth and other
• digital media
• Youth and mobiles
• Youth have a varied and voracious appetite for
  all things digital - but we know too little about
  it

The mobile is the most ubiquitous personal device
- 96 of all 15-24 year olds have one A typical
user sends 17 SMS messages a day
Source Gallup Telekom Index, 2004
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DRs problem is legitimacy

• Licence-fee funded Public Service broadcasting
• Something for everyone
• Its a problem is DR has nothing to offer the
  youth

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DRs problem is legitimacy

• Two hypotheses

A. If DR loses the young as viewers, listeners or
users of public service then they are lost for
good
As yet we do not know which of the two is
right. Dare we run the risk that it will be B?
B. Media consumption patterns are a reflection
of phases in life. The young will return to the
fold as they get older
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DRs problem is a global one

What Do we know about young people?
Is there anything we can do as a result?
How Can we reach a better understand of what
makes them tick?
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Research into youth digital media

• 3

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A recent study from the USA
www.online-publishers.org
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Remember - mobile not widespread in US
Methodological problems - interviews
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www.w2forum.com
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The importance of youth

• In numerical terms, youth are declining as a
  proportion of the global population (exceptions!)
• Increase economic power as a consumer group
  (USD 1.4 trillion annually)

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Increasing mobile adoption

• Most popular youth technology product
• In many countries, the mobile has reached 80
  penetration of this group
• 8 of disposable income will be spent on mobiles
  in 2006 (cf. 1 on music)
• Need to develop relevant content and services for
  youth lifestyles

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Music

• Mobile music is a myth (MP3 on the phone)
• Growth not driven by retails sales to youth but
  as a promotional channel (music clips, promos,
  identifying tastes and trends) c.f. i-Pod

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TV

• Youth audiences are in a decline
• Fewer watch TV
• Those who watch see fewer hours
• However more satisfaction with the TV that is
  watched (BBC figures for the UK)
• The mobile as the universal return channel for
  participation
• SMS and MMS popular as means of taking part in
  live shows (votes, polls, contributing opinions
  and sharing content)
• Voting only associated with entertainment such as
  Reality shows - not politics

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Games

• The mobile slowing down video games
• As yet still a niche PSP, N-Gage, Nintendo
  DS
• Take up will depend on tying things into other
  media and platforms such as online and video
  consoles

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Diffusion model breaking down

• Early adopters do not influence youth adoption
  into mass markets cf. ROAR
• Early adopters can however be used for product
  development

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Right of Admission Reserved
www.roar.org
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Annual reports on youth research in the UK
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Traditional model of diffusion
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Hypothesized Diffusion Model 2002 ROAR Findings
Opinion Formers
Mainstream
Aspirants
Media
Celebrities
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Different Relationships with Media Across Groups
Media overload
Opinion Formers screen by is it fresh, new, part
of my passion
Filter based on passion strong allegiance to
brands truly involved
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Artists tipped to emerge during the period of
our study by our music insiders.We asked about
our respondents about awareness.

• Dizzee Rascal - UK Garage
• Alfie Guitar Indie /Folktronica
• Athlete Guitar/Indie
• Kings Of Leon Rock
• Mars Volta Rock
• The Rapture Rock
• Zinc - DrumnBass
• Joe Budden Hip Hop
• Chingy Hip Hop / RB

Opinion Formers Ahead
Aspirants Ahead
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What bands are you into?

• Qn Of those artists you are aware of, which
  ones are you into?
• We ordered the bands by popularity, then saw
  which of our groups were relatively more or less
  into each of the acts.
• And the survey said
• Of top 5 most popular listed artists of the time,
  e.g. Wayne Wonder and Big Brovaz those being
  pushed in the media aspirants easily lead in all
  cases
• As we move further down the popularity stakes
  e.g. Zinc and Alfie, Opinion Formers start to
  dominate.

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The role of opinion formers is manifold

• Opinion formers do pass on information about new
  things most quickly.
• Specifically Opinion Formers spread most quickly
  to the mainstream.
• Opinion formers and the Mainstream are more
  likely to form friendship groups, with Aspirants
  more likely to hang out with other Aspirants.

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In pictures
Opinion Formers
Aspirants
Mainstream
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Qualitative research shows relationship with
media helps filter info overload

• Opinion formers have passion centres and will
  filter according to whether it is in that centre.
• Aspirants have a select subset of trusted cool
  sources of media and they will be receptive to
  its output.
• Mainstream are more passively selecting based on
  volume of information from any media source.
• Opinion formers were more into esoteric acts
  whereas the aspirants followed more media-plugged
  acts.

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Hypothesized Diffusion Model 2002 ROAR Findings
Opinion Formers
Mainstream
Aspirants
Media
Celebrities
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To
Different kinds of media interaction
MEDIA
Opinion Formers
Aspirants
Mainstream
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Direct Applications

• Opinion former attitude interest in a specific
  area.
• Identify super opinion formers in a particular
  field.

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Handheld devices

• The aesthetic has left the record sleeve and
  now the aesthetic is the artifact the iPod
• The market is moving toward the artifact, not
  the music to fill it.
• Storing a few perennial favourites, otherwise
  shuffling new music in and out - relectant to pay
  for something you dont keep

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Devices on the move

• Music to structure the mood on their way to and
  from home
• Controlling their space, time and interaction.
• Carving out a private area in public spaces
• Wearing white earphones
  feeling safe
• Women less likely to be chatted up by strangers

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The SAFT project
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Research from May 2003

• Risk behaviour among 9-16 year olds in Denmark,
  Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden...
• ...and Ireland

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1
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Kids and adolescents use the Net for many things
1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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The Net generation sub-culture -a first attempt
to understand it

• Kids by and large have their own Net culture
• The Net is the current toy and medium for gaining
  experience, entertainment, communication and
  network building in Denmark coupled with the
  mobile phone
• The transition from childhood to adulthood
  involving experimentation, breaking new ground
  and challenging taboos currently takes place
  primarily on the Net
• The home, school and out-of-school clubs have
  become transparent areas where adults observe and
  engage in dialogue with children on equal terms

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The Future of the Protection of Minors -
Attitudes and Possible Action

• 4 components
• Protect minors from media
• Satisfy kids need for quality media
• Participate in kids activities using media
• Bring children up to relate to media

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Who help the Net generation?
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Facilitators of learning

• Kids most frequently learn about the Net from
• Peers - friends, schoolmates (53)
• Parents (38)
• Trial and error (34)
• Their teachers (23)
• Older siblings (21)
• Websites (8)
• Libraries (7)
• Chat pal (7)
• Magazines (5)

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A case

• 4

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Legitimacy - an issue of coverage
Media
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Legitimacy - an issue of coverage
Distribution
Media Analog tv DTV
FM DAB Internet Mobile
TV
Radio
Web
services
Votes
Quiz
Community
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Legitimacy - an issue of coverage
Distribution
Media Analog tv DTV
FM DAB Internet Mobile
TV
Radio
Web
Services
Votes
Quiz
Community
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Boogie - which media/services on which platforms?
Distribution
Media Analog tv TTV
FM radio Internet
boogie tv
videoclips
TV
P3 boogie netradio
Radio
boogie site
Web
Tjenester
Boogie-list
TTV- crawler
SMS-greetings
TV- crawler
boogie community
P2P
Mobile initially being used as return channel
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Boogie tv

• form. fascination
• content. identification
• music. 60-70
• VTR
• lifestyle
• film fashion friends games parties sport dating
  stars etc.
• competitions
• guests
• events

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Boogie - music clips/tv on the web
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Boogie - radio on FM (P3)
adio
Monday-Friday 14-15
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Boogie - digital radio on the net
Our first player i 2002
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Boogie - www.dr.dk/boogie
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Boogie Teletext s. 505
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What doe we use mobiles for

• Mobiles as a return channel (video battles, SMS
  greetings, questions to guestsin the studio)
• Also for SMS-greetings on TTV crawler
• Interaction rate (conversion rate) as high as 10
  of viewers

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Boogie TV crawler - SMS
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Boogie Teletext crawler
Being able to show all greetings
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SMS chat on TTV
Currently not in use on Boogie
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Boogie klub/community
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Boogie klub/community
Boogie klub/community
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Boogie klub/community
Boogie klub/community
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Format

• Boogie is a cross-media service
• Synergy
• Boogie is there for you
• whatever you want,
• whenever you want,
• wherever you want it...

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Boogie - round the clock (mon-fri)

• Accessibility
• Participation

Watch Boogie on TV
Send a greeting - SMS
Find Boogie-list on TTV
listen to Boogie on P3 (FM)
listen to Boogie radio (Web streaming)
Find info på www.dr.dk
P2P contacts with Boogie community on www.dr.dk
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Quality of Service - delivering it all
TXT-TV
Cyclone
(1212)
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Services Competitions top the list
Which serviceshave you used in the last month? Which serviceshave you used in the last month?
Competitions and votes (inclusive of radio/tv) 4,9
Ringetones 4,3
Logos 3,4
Information services (traffic, weather) 1,5
Games 1,4
M-commerce via SMS (cinema, parking) 0,5
Sportsnews and results 0,5

• Ca. 5 of all Danes took part in a competition
  within the last month
• Very few (1 out of 200) subscribe to sports news
  and results
• Youth (15-24) in this respect are much the same
  as everyone else.

Source Gallup Telekom Index, 2004
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Conclusion

• 5

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• We need to take youth culture and interests
  seriously if they are not to become a subculture
  with few links with the rest of society
• As yet we have limited research on what is
  happening
• It is possible to get the youth back into the
  fold if we tailor our offerings to their
  interests and needs.

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The future?

• 6

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• Cross media
• Anything, Anytime, Anywhere
• Public Service as a driver for new media take-up
  and not just a historical anachronism

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Peter Olaf Looms

• DR /
• Danish Broadcasting Corporation
• TV-Byen
• DK-2860 Soborg DENMARK
• t 45 35 20 83 66
• m 45 51 56 75 46
• e polooms_at_inet.uni2.dk