MANILA, Philippines—Television, which has lorded over Philippine homes for decades, is still king.
According to the latest Nielsen Audience Measurement report, television is still the most popular media platform in the country.
But time spent on watching TV declined in 2010. Claimed TV viewing hours per household (daily average) in 2010 went down by 24 minutes to 7.7 hours from 8.1 hours in 2008 despite the 4 percent increase in television ownership in the country.
In the Visayas, viewing has gone down from an average of nine hours per day to eight hours per household per day while households in Mindanao claimed that they watch TV for an average of 8.3 hours per day, up from 7.9 in 2008.
The notable increase in claimed usage of DVD, CD and video peripherals was also cited in the report.
The study also noted that Filipinos are being entertained by the media kingdom’s court jester of sorts: the videoke set. Filipinos claim to spend more time singing, increasing national averages by almost an hour per week.
As a regular study to align the National Urban TV Audience Measurement (Nutam) and Mega Manila TV Audience Measurement (MegaTAM) to the country’s current TV landscape, Nielsen TV Audience Measurement surveyed homes in urban areas nationwide.
A total of 5,400 and 3,000 individuals from different income classes were surveyed for Nutam and MegaTAM, respectively. Respondents were housewives and the main purchase decision makers.
Meanwhile, Nielsen’s Media Index tracking study includes media platforms such as radio, print, Internet, outdoor advertising and mobile phone usage in urban areas.
Using the Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) system, the listening habits of 500 homes in Metro Manila and 250 homes in Cebu and Davao were surveyed.
Metro Manilans tended to tune in at around 10 in the morning with the number peaking at noon. Listeners outside Metro Manila, however, turn on their radios earlier with audience volume in Laoag, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and other provinces peaking at around 8 in the morning.
Broadsheets and tabloids both had fewer readers in 2010 than in 2008, with readership dropping from 24 percent to 20 percent in the Greater Manila area.
In contrast, magazine readership in Mega Manila grew from 16 percent to 18 percent.
The effects of new media, which include online magazines, blogs, news portals and social networking sites, are also becoming key in media indexing. Internet usage in the country increased by 10 percent last year, the fastest in the Asia-Pacific region.
Filipino netizens are also switching from logging on in Internet cafes to accessing the worldwide web at home.
The use of mobile Internet is also on the rise with more handheld devices becoming available at cheaper prices.
But despite the many pretenders to its throne, television is holding fast to its top spot.
With the number of Filipino homes owning two or more TV sets growing steadily and more people opting to have cable subscriptions, it may be a long while before a new successor to the throne is declared.