For Australians, having television content available on multiple devices is more important than it is for viewers elsewhere in the world outside the USA, according to Viacom International Media Network.
Viacom's "TV Redefined" study to be released later this week shows Australians are embracing the digital viewing revolution faster than many of their counterparts elsewhere.
Some 77 per cent of Australian respondents, compared with 70 per cent globally, agreed that having more ways to access TV helps them find more to watch, while 85 per cent of Australian respondents aged between six and 34 years old consume video on-demand, according to the study.
Viacom International's senior vice president of research and insights Christian Kurz told Fairfax Media: "The viewer has already redefined what we mean by television. It used to be very simple to imagine somebody watching TV because that was somebody sitting on a sofa in a living room, watching a box in the corner. That simply is no longer the case."
When asked how often they watch full length TV shows on different platforms, such as video on-demand, subscription video on-demand (SVOD), digital video recorder and television catch-up services, Australians once again far outweighed the rest of the world.
For example, 85 per cent of Australians used network video on-demand services, compared with 58 per cent globally, and 70 per cent of Australians used SVOD services compared with 49 per cent globally.
Viacom's latest study surveyed 10,500 people between the ages of six and 34, across 14 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Mexico, UK, Germany, Sweden and Indonesia.
Mr Kurz said the perception that the quality of TV programming has increased heavily in recently years is in part thanks to alternative viewing platforms which mean people don't have to watch programs they don't really enjoy.
"Many many years ago you woke up in the middle of the night, you couldn't sleep, you had the choice of three or four channels and that's what you had," he said.
"Today, you just continue watching whatever it was before you went to bed, and that is good content. And good content to one person is that high-end drama, to another it's the latest reality show, to another it's sports and to another it's whatever they want to talk to their friends about the next morning."
