Observatoire de l'équipement audiovisuel des foyers de France métropolitaine - TV results for the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2022

Editorial

Arcom and its partners present the results of the Observatoire de l'équipement audiovisuel des foyers for the 1st half of 2022, with details of the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2022 for television.

Despite a return to "normal" in 2022 after two years marked by the health crisis, the trends observed over this period in terms of equipment and audiovisual consumption continue into the first part of 2022.

Equipment

Developments in terms of equipment are in line with those seen in 2021. Despite a penetration rate that has been dropping for several years, the TV set remains the most widespread screen in households (90.3%, -1 point over one year). It is still ahead of the other terminals, the computer, which is stabilizing at around 86% of receiver in homes, and the tablet (48.3%), which is rising very slightly (+1.3 points in 2022). Smartphones continue to grow at a steady pace (81.5% of people aged 11 and over are equipped, +2.6 points in one year).

The development of very high-speed networks and the multiplication of terminals has profoundly changed the way audio and video content is consumed. As the TV set is no longer the only channel available for viewing programs, linear or otherwise, this equipment is less used by a certain profile of users: youngsters, higher socio-professional categories, single-person households and people living in large conurbations.

Television reception modes

Internet TV (IPTV) remains the leading mode of household reception, with penetration continuing to increase in 2022 (63.9%, +2.5 points year-on-year), driven mainly by the development of fiber (+7.9 points year-on-year, while ADSL and cable by contract dropped by 5.4 points). Despite a downward trend over the past few years, DTT reception continues to be used by 43.2% of households, and remains the exclusive mode of reception for almost one household in five (19%). This exclusive reception is mainly due to satisfaction with the DTT supply and services, as well as reception quality.

There are also significant regional disparities under the provisions of television reception. In two regions (compared with four last year), DTT reception is still in the majority: Brittany (53.1% of households) and Centre Val de Loire (51.3% of households) are above the national average (43.2%). By contrast, only 34.9% of households in the Île-de-France region use DTT to watch TV. The decrease in the number of regions using DTT as their primary platform can be explained in part by the development of fiber across the country (39.1%, +7.9 points in one year), as well as by the increase in services offered on connected TV.

When it comes to IPTV reception, on the other hand, the Île de France region is more advanced than other regions, with 71.7% of households using it, well above the national average (63.9% of households). Nouvelle-Aquitaine, on the other hand, is the region with the lowest usage (55.2%).

Connected TV equipment and usage

In the first half of 2022, 84% of TV-equipped households accessing the Internet had a connected TV set enabling reception via IPTV (+2 points on H1 2021, after two years of stability). Indirect" connections remain widely used: 82% of households are equipped with a TV set-top box from an Internet Service Provider (+2 points), and 30% are equipped with an OTT box (+3 points), with these two types of equipment seeing the biggest increases. Direct connections via a smart TV are still in the minority (49% of households equipped with a connected TV and accessing the Internet have a smart TV), but this rate is increasing sharply (+5 points in one year and +13 points in 2 years).

With the development of this new equipment, the TV set is becoming a means of accessing online content in the broadest sense, and not just live TV programs. While live TV remains the primary use of connected TV interfaces (for 92.7% of households), the use of functionalities other than live TV is increasing in terms of frequency on almost all interfaces, with almost daily use for 64.1% of those equipped with Smart TV and 58.4% of owners of an Internet Service Provider TV set-top box.

Apart from live TV, the most frequently used functionalities remain focused on audiovisual content: once again this year, catch-up TV viewing is the most popular on these interfaces (85.7%), followed by OTT content consumption (78.2%, +2.8 points year-on-year), whether on video-sharing platforms or on-demand audiovisual media services.

Although television equipment has been on a downward trend for several years now, the uses associated with this equipment are keeping pace with technical innovations and renewal. As a result, this terminal continues to play a central role in households, thanks to the broadcast viewing comfort it supplies and the major interest it arouses in audiovisual programs (linear and non-linear).

Juliette Théry

Member of Arcom

President, Observatoire de l'équipement audiovisuel des foyers de France métropolitaine (Observatory of audiovisual equipment in homes in mainland France)