Forget about the ratings war, the woe of Channel 10, whether the Logies should be televised live, there’s a couple of home truths about the television that from a consumer insight perspective aren’t being spoken about.

1.   Big is always better

There’s no denying that the way in which we engage with television has changed and there is a rise of the multiple device but when you ask punters whether they would prefer to watch their favourite show on a big screen TV versus their iPad, they will favour the larger device.  Tablets enable additional consumption and can change the environment in which we consume entertainment, but at the end of the day, size does matter

2.   Twitter is not reflective of the television audience

Social TV is here and here to stay but there’s a danger in executives listening to the wrong ‘voice’ when it comes to programming.  Look at international X Factor examples – the social voice dictates the younger ‘cooler’ acts while week and week, the ‘traditional’ acts would go through each week.  There’s great stuff that social analytics can provide but at the end of the day, are these magical people who have the Nielsen ratings box in the loungerooms, the people who are tweeting their adulation of Ricky Martin?

3.   TV watching is a habit

Our recent rituals study – Consumers buy on autopilot.  What does this mean for your brand – identified TV programs as one of the most habitual things Australians do.  For new shows, this makes it extraordinarily difficult to break existing habits – take the MKR example for Channel 7.  The Voice is an interesting case study –Channel 9 had a habit last season but needed to disrupt the unconscious decision to watch their rival.  They did this traditionally as it was hard to ignore the advertising serving as a cue but the positioning the reward as emotional – clearly differentiates between the MKR reward of ‘reality’.  Did they break the habit – The Voice had 1.8million viewers, MKR with 1.4million.  Both would claim victories but the real winner is the fact the recognition that TV is habitual.