Light Television Viewers in Latin America
In the analysis of television usage, the historical emphasis goes to the heavy television viewers, who contributed disproportionately more to the bottom-line television audience size. In marketing, heavy users are targeted becase of the 80:20 rule --- 20% of the users account for 80% of the volume. This is not necessarily an exact quantitative law of nature, since the ratio will shift according to the category.
In the Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica study, there were 6,378 survey respondents between the ages of 12 to 64 years old in television households in 18 countries in Latin America. For these survey respondents, we know their average daily television viewing hours. We point out that this number is derived by asking the respondents about their behavior in 27 different dayparts, and then we add up the sum of the viewing hours of these dayparts. This technique is known to overstate the total number of viewing hours, when compared to data coming from the more reliable people meter method.
In the next chart, we show the cumulative frequency distribution of the average daily television viewing hours. If television viewing hours were uniformly distributed in the population, we would see a cumulative frequency distribution curve that falls exactly along the 45-degree line. The actual graph showed that there are fewer light television viewers and more heavy television viewers compared to the uniform distribution model.
For this article, our interest will be on the light television viewers. According to current belief, television is a mass medium with near universal reach and, as a result, draws in the most advertising expenditure in most Latin American countries. The light television viewers would be under-served by a television-only advertising strategy. For this reason, it is important to understand whom they are.
HOW LIGHT IS LIGHT?
For the purpose of this article, we define a light television viewer as someone who watches one hour or less of television per day. In this survey sample, 3.0% of the people qualified as light television viewers. For the study as a whole, Latin Americans spend an average of 4.73 hours per day watching television. Given our definition of light viewing, we note that the light television viewers spend only 0.67 hours per day watching television, compared to 4.83 among those who watch more than one hour per day.
The light television viewers saw 2.4 broadcast channels per week, compared to 3.6 broadcast channels per week for those who watch more than one hour of television per week. We also examined the various television program types, and saw that the light television viewers watched less of everything. In summary, the light television viewer is someone who simply watches less of everything.
WHO ARE THEY?
The next table shows the incidence of light television viewers within various demographic sub-groups. The demographic profile of the light television viewer contains these key characteristics: male, older (35+ years old), less educated, less affluent and working long and hard hours (professionals, manual laborers, temperorary workers, self-employed operators). The job conditions would probably mean that they have less leisure time available.
| Demographic Group | % Light Viewers |
| Sex Male Female |
3.8% 2.1% |
| Age 12-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 |
1.1% 1.6% 1.3% 4.3% 6.5% 6.2% |
| Geographic Region Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Mexico Venezuela Balance of Central America/Caribbean Balance of South America |
2.2% 2.1% 3.4% 2.7% 3.8% 0.9% 7.4% 3.6% |
| Employment Status Full-Time Part-time Not employed |
4.8% 1.9% 1.7% |
| Occupation Owner/manager Professional Office worker Sales Service worker Manual laborer/operator Temporary/day worker Self-employed operator |
1.4% 4.0% 2.0% 0.7% 2.8% 4.4% 5.2% 7.0% |
| Education Less than 6 years More than 6, less than 12 years 12 years or more |
5.3% 1.9% 3.1% |
| Socio-economic Level A (upper 10%) B (upper-middle 20%) C (lower-middle 30%) D (lower 40%) |
1.8% 2.6% 2.1% 4.2% |
| TOTAL | 3.0% |
WHAT ELSE COULD THEY BE DOING?
Does it mean that these people prefer other forms of media over television? Among light television viewers, 18.2% are newspaper readers compared to 27.9% in the entire television population. So light television viewers are also light press readers. As for radio, light television viewers listened for the same amount as the entire television population. Therefore, it would be fair to say that their time is not being spent on the other major media.
In the next table, we show the agreement rates with a list of lifestyle statements. The light television viewer is a relatively sedantary person without a lot of interests and hobbies.
|
Statement |
% Light Viewers Agree Mostly | %Non-Light Viewers Agree Mostly |
| I enjoy spending time with my family | 73.8% | 71.7% |
| In my spare time, I would rather watch TV or read than go out with friends | 37.6% | 39.2% |
| I have a lot of interests and hobbies | 20.1% | 27.8% |
WHAT DO THEY THINK OF TELEVISION?
According to the next table, the profile of the light television viewer is a traditionalist who thinks there is too much sex and violence on television. Apart from any other conditions, this person does not approve of contemporary television content.
|
Statement |
% Light Viewers Agree Mostly | %Non-Light Viewers Agree Mostly |
| I think there is too much violence on TV | 67.6% | 61.3% |
| I think there is too much sex on TV | 58.6% | 53.4% |
| People should respect traditional values more | 75.3% | 65.1% |
CONCLUSION
Light television viewers are not a homogenous group, and there are many reasons why people do not watch a lot of television --- they have poor eyesight, they would rather go out and party, they would rather turn on the computer to surf the internet, they would rather read a book, they work at extra jobs, they attend school at night, etc. The survey data here identify the light television viewer as a person who is more likely to work long and hard hours and/or who does not like what is being shown on television nowadays.
(posted by Roland Soong, 8/16/2001)
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