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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Likely responses to declining TV market</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Claude Robinsson
Sunday, January 21, 2007
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>According to the All Media Survey 2006, local television and cable continue to hold sway over international cable but the figures also indicate a trend towards declining audiences for traditional media products that should be worrying for broadcast and other media executives.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=90 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Claude Robinsson </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>In the local TV and cable market, the survey shows TVJ with a dominant share of 54.9% which is almost 17% more than its nearest rival, CVM-TV which had a 38.2 % share. Local cable channels had a combined market share of just under eight per cent.
Overall, local television (TVJ, CVM and LOVE) had a combined 65% share of the visual media market, international cable accounted for 29%, and local cable six per cent.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The survey was conducted by Don Anderson's Market Research Services based on 2,011 interviews among persons 10 years and older over a six-week period September 6 to October 19 but the results were only available last week.
A separate survey commissioned by TVJ in 2006 showed the combined foreign cable channels with 37% of the market, TVJ 34%, CVM-TV 26%, Love-TV 1% and combined local cable channels at 2%.<P class=StoryText align=justify>That survey, carried out by Marketing Strategy Ltd, gave TVJ 54% of the market for local TV and cable, compared to 41% for CVM.
Taken together, the two surveys indicate an upswing for TVJ in recent years that seemed to follow the substantial investment in new studios and other equipment at the Lyndhurst Road plant, the hiring of Kay Osborne as general manager and additional local programming in prime time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>CVM executives did not appear particularly worried by the huge gap between the two stations, attributing much of TVJ's gains to a carry over from the natural audience peak from Football World Cup last June.<P class=StoryText align=justify>While TVJ would certainly have gained some audience from having exclusive rights to such a coveted television property, I believe that they must also be doing some other things right to maintain the kind of lead indicated by the Don Anderson survey in September-October.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Much of the media focus has been on the competition between TVJ and CVM, the survey also produced some other noteworthy findings, especially among the cable channels offering niche programming in sports and music.<P class=StoryText align=justify>One of the more surprising results was that TVJ Sports Network was ahead of its more established rival, Sportsmax, especially as the survey was carried out when Sportsmax was showing international cricket and football and had not yet started to charge a whopping $400 per cable box to receive its signal.<P class=StoryText align=justify>And among the music and entertainment channels, market leader HYPE-TV and RE-TV both recorded declines in audience share, dropping from about 2% to less than 1% of the overall audience for TV and local cable.<P class=StoryText align=justify>HYPE, the first local cable channel to distribute its signal on satellite (Sportsmax is the only other) claims a television audience of more than 1.3 million homes in the Caribbean, and parts of Europe and North America where it is available on Direct-TV.<P class=StoryText align=justify>DECLINING AUDIENCE FOR TRADITIONAL MEDIA<P class=StoryText align=just
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Claude Robinsson
Sunday, January 21, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>According to the All Media Survey 2006, local television and cable continue to hold sway over international cable but the figures also indicate a trend towards declining audiences for traditional media products that should be worrying for broadcast and other media executives.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=90 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Claude Robinsson </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>In the local TV and cable market, the survey shows TVJ with a dominant share of 54.9% which is almost 17% more than its nearest rival, CVM-TV which had a 38.2 % share. Local cable channels had a combined market share of just under eight per cent.Overall, local television (TVJ, CVM and LOVE) had a combined 65% share of the visual media market, international cable accounted for 29%, and local cable six per cent.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The survey was conducted by Don Anderson's Market Research Services based on 2,011 interviews among persons 10 years and older over a six-week period September 6 to October 19 but the results were only available last week.
A separate survey commissioned by TVJ in 2006 showed the combined foreign cable channels with 37% of the market, TVJ 34%, CVM-TV 26%, Love-TV 1% and combined local cable channels at 2%.<P class=StoryText align=justify>That survey, carried out by Marketing Strategy Ltd, gave TVJ 54% of the market for local TV and cable, compared to 41% for CVM.
Taken together, the two surveys indicate an upswing for TVJ in recent years that seemed to follow the substantial investment in new studios and other equipment at the Lyndhurst Road plant, the hiring of Kay Osborne as general manager and additional local programming in prime time.<P class=StoryText align=justify>CVM executives did not appear particularly worried by the huge gap between the two stations, attributing much of TVJ's gains to a carry over from the natural audience peak from Football World Cup last June.<P class=StoryText align=justify>While TVJ would certainly have gained some audience from having exclusive rights to such a coveted television property, I believe that they must also be doing some other things right to maintain the kind of lead indicated by the Don Anderson survey in September-October.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Much of the media focus has been on the competition between TVJ and CVM, the survey also produced some other noteworthy findings, especially among the cable channels offering niche programming in sports and music.<P class=StoryText align=justify>One of the more surprising results was that TVJ Sports Network was ahead of its more established rival, Sportsmax, especially as the survey was carried out when Sportsmax was showing international cricket and football and had not yet started to charge a whopping $400 per cable box to receive its signal.<P class=StoryText align=justify>And among the music and entertainment channels, market leader HYPE-TV and RE-TV both recorded declines in audience share, dropping from about 2% to less than 1% of the overall audience for TV and local cable.<P class=StoryText align=justify>HYPE, the first local cable channel to distribute its signal on satellite (Sportsmax is the only other) claims a television audience of more than 1.3 million homes in the Caribbean, and parts of Europe and North America where it is available on Direct-TV.<P class=StoryText align=justify>DECLINING AUDIENCE FOR TRADITIONAL MEDIA<P class=StoryText align=just