By Zeba Fatima

New Australian data out from Ericsson ConsumerLab reveals changing patterns in Australian’s TV viewing habits, and identifies what on-demand features Australian’s are willing to pay for and reveals some interesting findings in the fight against unlawful file sharing.

The Ericsson ConsumerLab Report TV & Video 2011 Consumer Trends Australia results show the beginnings of change in our viewing habits, with 40 % of Australian respondents taking up on-demand video and TV content.

“For those Australians downloading content, laptops are just as popular as TV screens, also Australians are on par with the global average for watching content on their smartphone or tablet computer,” said Ericsson Australia & New Zealand strategy and marketing general manager Kursten Leins.

Australians access the net while watching TV

Ericsson research shows that whilst watching TV more than half of Australians are also accessing the Internet, (61% vs 64% global average), and are also just as likely as our global peers to be using social forums or blog whilst watching TV (43% Aust, 42% globally).

“When it comes to TVs Australians love flat screen TVs (78% over 60% global average) and we are more likely to have large screen TV - 50% of Australians choosing a TV screen larger than 40 inches compared to the 30% global average,” said Leins.

Internet TV on the rise

“Overall results shows that today Australians are more likely to watch broadcast TV content, but it is likely that with the capacity and speeds offered by the NBN and the growth in mobile broadband, we will see continued growth in the uptake of internet TV and video across a multitude of screens,” she added.

There is however, a telling point of difference when we look at access to unlawful file sharing. In the US where viewers have access to a broad range of new released legal content, only 14% of US respondents indicated they used file sharing, compared with 33% in Australia. In other words, Australians are 2.4 times more likely to use file sharing compared to viewers in the US.

“Results show that that Australians have a strong desire for time-shifting and but remain unable to access all the content they want in a legitimate manner. This indicates that in Australia it is still necessary to further increase the availability alternatives and hereby displace file sharing. Offering legal services is simply the best way to combat piracy,” said Kursten.