DID MOBILE TECHNOLOGY SHRINK TV?

Nope. TV is still king. But this isn’t coming from a typical agency guy trying to defend his most lucrative source of commission.

I am aware of its shortfalls versus other media in the mix. TV in Pakistan. and pretty much everywhere else on the planet is still not directly interactive. And most importantly, you can no longer reach everybody through TV. However, while digital advertising keeps making all the headlines, TV is still king within the media mix for marketers in Pakistan. This cannot just be a case of absolute love for TV in the hearts of local marketers. There must be some rationale, some data that supports the argument in favour of loyalty to TV’s royal status. Right?

A closer look at global viewership data and post - campaign analysis seems to suggest that TV’s influence and power have somewhat reduced. So while TV still stands as royalty, the balance of power is shifting to digital video. According to Adweek’s Global Survey 2017, viewership is moving away from linear television to online. This shift is particularly true among younger audiences, with 13% less of them watching traditional TV year-on-year, while spending more time on over-the-top (OTT) platforms audio, video, and other media transmitted via the internet. Proponents of TV’s royal stature argue that declining viewership trends among the young worldwide have not affected the local media landscape much, and in fact, viewership is growing. For a nation with a rapidly multiplying population, viewership will always seem to be increasing. It is the quality and attention of that viewership which is declining and I don’t think we completely appreciate that yet. Attention is the currency of our time and the attention of an audience is increasingly moving away from TV toward mobile devices and social media.