television
This month, Paul Hide, Director of Membership and Marketing at trade body techUK, examines the UK TV market, and calls on the independent sector to look again at the way it promotes televisions to the consumer.
A
s we enter the 90th year of television in the UK, the sales of large screen TVs remain remarkably resilient. It
is oſten predicted that, in a world of media disaggregation and high powered mobile video enabled devices, a big screen sat in the corner of a living room is increasingly outdated, soon to be shunned by the millennial content consumer. But the truth is somewhat different. Large screen TV volume sales in the UK are
above five million units a year, similar to the six million unit sales per annum that we have seen, on average, over the last 30 years. Volume decline is almost fully accounted for by the demise of the sub 32” sector; replaced by the tablet and mobile viewing devices, whilst larger screen sizes continue to sell very well. Less than 4% of the 27 million UK homes do not possess a large screen television according to BARB data. In reality, the average home probably has at two or three televisions in use. High quality drama content via Public Service Broadcasting and must see event based viewing, such as sport or a royal wedding continue to drive the British love affair with TV. Combine this core Free-To-View offering with the excellent choice
of new and old content from global giants such as Netflix and Amazon and it is easy to see why TV remains the UK’s no.1 leisure activity with, on average, 25 hours of viewing per week. 2019 predictions are that total market volumes
will remain similar to 2018, with the potential for growth in total market value to circa £2.5 billion as a result of a continued shift to larger screen sizes. Ultra-High Definition 4k capability is already pretty much a minimum specification standard for all but entry priced models. In spite of this market consistency and
resilience, many independent electrical retailers have reduced or removed televisions from their stores, citing low net margins and fierce competition as reasons to focus finite shelf and stock holding space elsewhere. But is this a wise decision, bearing in mind that the value of the UK television market is more than double that of any sector of white goods, and larger than both cooling and laundry combined? Surely there are ways to secure, from what is the largest single value sector of the CE market, a profitable return? I believe television remains a profitable opportunity for all those retailing and e-tailing in the electrical sector, so let me explain why I think this is the case.
With the excellent choice
of new and old content it is easy to see why TV remains the UK’s no.1 leisure activity with, on average, 25 hours of viewing per week
Having established that the market is
unlikely to reduce in volume and likely to increase in value it is worth looking in greater detail at the factors behind the sector resilience. For a concept that has been around nearly 100 years, the amount of investment in innovation and improved product performance remains incredibly high. A visit to any of the leading CE brands’ booths at this year’s CES2019 global tech trade fair in Las Vegas demonstrated that television is still very much the lead product that all the global CE tech giants use to showcase their capabilities in bringing new ‘Wow’ factor technology to market. TV is constantly evolving, driven by an accelerating breadth of high quality content
Ultra-High Definition 4k capability is already pretty much a minimum specification standard for all but entry priced models 24 |
www.innovativeelectricalretailing.co.uk April 2019
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