TV is the future, but not necessarily on a big screen

Singapore - Singapore is one of the few countries in the developed world in which there are nearly as many internet users who watch more TV (13.4%) since the dawn of the online age as those who watch less TV (19.1%).

This finding was shared by Jeffrey Cole, director of the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication's Center for the Digital Future, at the Engage 2007 conference this morning.

Cole spent the past six years on a study called The World Internet Project and after tracking people for that period of time, found that especially in Singapore, the internet is no longer a threat to TV. However, what is a threat to TV is actually dial-up (as opposed to broadband).

He says broadband's ‘always on' trait means users can pop in and out of the internet any time in a day - before, during and after commercial breaks. However with dial-up, time has to be set aside from other activities to access the internet and the experience is in more structured "buckets of time".

Cole also says TV will remain "significant" and "immensely popular" while newspapers and magazines will move increasingly online and become more like TV - "newspapers online will thrive because they are video providers now".

Another reason for TV remaining strong is that entertainment on the internet will increasingly move to the mobile device and TV viewing will take place during a person's "down time" - such as while waiting for something - which is often outside of the home.

Geoff Handley, director of sales & marketing at The Hyperfactory, also spoke about the "mobilisation" of the internet and consumer generated content, explaining that the mobile device in the last 12 months has been increasingly used as a research tool and in integrated mobile-CRM activities.

"Mobile is just another channel and it has to be treated as just another channel. The best result and examples we've seen are when it is used as part of an integrated and powerful campaign," Handley says.

Engage is a two day event featuring creative thinkers from the communications and brands industry, organised by Leo Burnett Worldwide, Arc Worldwide and Contagious Magazine.