(Report producer: State Grid of China)
First, the elderly are the largest audience group for television
(1) Population aging has become China's basic national condition
In recent years, the size of the mainland's elderly population has shown a development trend of total expansion, accelerated growth, and extended life expectancy. According to the data of the Seventh National Population Census, there are 260 million people aged 60 and above on the mainland, accounting for 18.7% of the country's total population. Among them, there are 190 million people aged 65 and above, accounting for 13.5% of the total population. In 16 of the country's 31 provinces, the population aged 65 and over exceeds 5 million, of which 6 provinces have an elderly population of more than 10 million.
From the data from 2010 to 2020, the proportion of the mainland population aged 60 and over increased by 5.44 percentage points, and the population aged 65 and over increased by 4.63 percentage points. Compared with the previous decade, the increase is 2.51 and 2.72 percentage points, respectively, and the proportion of the elderly population is rising rapidly. Judging from the development trend, the aging of the population will become the basic national condition in the coming period, and at the same time, the aging population on the mainland also has the characteristics of a huge overall scale and a marked acceleration of the aging process.
Population aging is an important trend in social development, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. For example, from the perspective of challenges, the aging of the population will reduce the supply of labor, increase the burden of family pension and the pressure of basic public service supply, and also see that the aging of the population has promoted the development of the "silver economy" and is conducive to expanding the consumption of products and services suitable for the elderly.
(2) The elderly group is the largest audience group for current television programs
Since the 1980s, with the popularity of television sets, watching TV programs has become the most important way for families to entertain, and television has brought us so much fun and memories. However, with the development of society, people's quality of life continues to improve, especially scientific and technological progress, the popularity of the Internet and smart phones, leisure and entertainment models are more diversified, watching TV is no longer the most important leisure and entertainment mode for people to pass the boring time, and the per capita time spent watching TV is also showing a downward trend year by year.
According to CSM (China Guangshi Sofrey Media Research) TV viewership monitoring data, in 2013, the average national audience watched 165 minutes of TV per person per day, and since then this data has continued to decline every year, and in 2019 this data is 124 minutes. Compared to 2013, the average viewing time per capita decreased by 40 minutes in 6 years. Although this data is picking up in 2020, we know that this is more due to the increase in time at home due to the epidemic.
Overall, it can be considered that with the development of science and technology and the deepening of the pace of media integration, the audience's access to information is more diversified, the convenient mobile Internet has accelerated the diversion of audiences, and the status of television in people's lives has a downward trend.
The decline in total TV viewership is mainly due to the decline in operating rates. Through the CSM data, we can clearly see that since 2013, the average daily audience reach rate (the daily arrival rate condition is set to "audiences who have watched more than 1 minute") has shown a downward trend year by year, and the decline is positively correlated with the decline in average daily viewing time. In 2019, the average daily audience reach rate was only 48.9%, a decrease of 15.9 percentage points from 2013.
But at the same time, according to CSM monitoring data, we can find that unlike the decline in the average daily viewing time of the overall audience, in the audience group of all ages, the average daily viewing time of people aged 65 and above showed an increasing trend from 2013 to 2019 (some years fluctuated slightly in the middle). The average daily viewing time in 2019 was 277 minutes, an increase of 14 minutes compared to 2013. In 2020, due to the epidemic at home, it directly increased by 11 minutes compared with 2019.
From 2016 to 2020, the average daily viewing time of people of different ages has changed, we can find that people aged 65 and above have always been the audience group that contributes the most to TV ratings, and the average daily viewing time has maintained a stable growth trend over the years, and it is also the only group in all age groups that shows a growth trend. This is related to the accelerated development of science and technology, the difficulty of changing the consumption concepts and living habits of the elderly, and the fact that they have become accustomed to the familiar leisure and entertainment modes. (Source: Future Think Tank)
Second, the current TV products are not very friendly to the elderly
TELEVISION has always been the main carrier of people's access to information and family entertainment, but the rise of mobile phones and tablets has opened up a new way of entertainment for families, although the emergence of smart TVs has given TV more functional value, and the differentiation of user groups has become inevitable. Through CSM's monitoring data, we know that the real potential, loyal users of smart TVs are those aged 55-64 and 65 and over. However, most of the smart TVs currently on the market are blindly catering to the preferences of the younger generation, while showing certain "unfriendly" to the elderly group, and these "unfriendly" are mainly manifested in the following aspects.
(1) Multiple remote controls are required for TV interaction
A TV, the need for at least 2-3 remote controls to achieve interaction, TV remote control, cable TV set-top box remote control, and even may have an Internet box remote control, watch different programs need to switch control in multiple remote controls, the remote control has a return key, confirmation key, exit key, the remote control layout is complicated and difficult to understand, the button is small and dense, bringing great confusion to the elderly.
(2) There are many auxiliary equipment required for watching television
In the Internet era, TV, as a living room content output and traffic entrance carrier, has absorbed the content of many platforms, but because these platforms are relatively independent, there are more and more hardware devices around TV output. Traditional digital TV set-top boxes, smart boxes, input cables of different interfaces, hidden deep signal sources, manual switching is too difficult.
(3) User interface (UI) of the suite layer
You can't watch it directly when you turn on the TV, you need to select a channel in the interface to watch. And some user interface layer by layer, after clicking on the difficult to find the "jump out" or "exit" button, resulting in the next step of the system operation can not be carried out.
(4) The picture is stuttering and not smooth
For smart TVs, picture fluency is the key, most of the smart TVs on the market will frequently appear after long-term use, and this caton phenomenon is mostly due to low hardware configuration, insufficient memory space caused. The picture is stuttering, not smooth, and easy to bring negative emotions to the elderly. (Source: Future Think Tank)
Third, what kind of television sets do the elderly need
In order to better understand whether there are some difficulties in the use of televisions by the elderly and the use of televisions, and which functions of the tv may be more suitable for the elderly, the State Grid of China organized a special survey of consumers.
(1) Survey sample distribution
A total of 1191 samples were collected, mainly distributed in provincial capitals and sub-provincial cities, of which Beijing, Jiangsu, Shandong, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other eastern regions accounted for 54.7%, other provinces accounted for a total of 45.3%, the survey subjects are 50 years old and above age group.
(2) The basic situation of the television sets currently in use
According to the survey, 40.6% of the respondents currently used TV sets in their homes for more than 5 years, 39.3% purchased 3-5 years ago, and 20.2% in 2020 and 2021.
Among them, smart TV all-in-one machines accounted for 40.1%, and the use of smart TV set-top box access accounted for 42.6%, and the total proportion of the two was 82.7%.
(3) Analysis of the habit of watching television
1. Average daily TV watching
The survey shows that the proportion of people who watch TV for an average of 2-3 hours a day is the highest, 26.4 percent; the proportion of people who watch within 1 hour is 17.6 percent; and the proportion of people who watch TV for 1-2 hours, 3-5 hours, and almost no TV every day is basically different, accounting for 16.9 percent, 16.9 percent, and 16.1 percent, respectively. 6% of people watch TV for more than 5 hours a day.
2. Frequently watched content and use of ancillary functions
Through the survey, it was found that the respondents watched various channel programs (such as CCTV, Beijing Satellite TV, Zhejiang Satellite TV, etc.) through cable TV set-top boxes, accounting for the largest number of people, accounting for 60.5%, fully retaining the viewing habits they had developed over the years; "watching their favorite TV dramas, movies, variety shows, etc. on demand" and "watching TV programs" The two options were ranked two and three, accounting for 49.1% and 37% respectively; mobile phone videos are too small, and video chat is not addictive, in recent years Smart TVs equipped with cameras allow the elderly to video chat with their children, relatives and friends through the TV, just like face-to-face chats. According to the survey, the choice to "video chat with children, relatives and friends through TV" accounted for 7.8%.
When it comes to "frequency of video chat on large TV screens", 5.5% of the surveyed people have at least one time a day, 5.8% of them have 2-3 times a week, and 17.6% of them have occasionally done so.
(4) Difficulties encountered in the use of smart TVs and solutions
1. Evaluation of the current difficulty of TV operation
According to the survey, in response to the question "Do you think it is difficult to operate TV at present", 12.8% of the respondents chose "less easy to operate", and 2.8% of the respondents chose "very difficult to operate", accounting for 15.6% of the total.
2. Difficulties encountered in the process of using smart TV
The survey reflected that for the problem of "difficulties encountered in the process of using smart TVs in ordinary times", the option of "cannot go directly to the TV programs you want to watch after booting" has the highest selection rate, which is 49.6%; "many devices (set-top boxes, televisions) do not know how to switch between each other" and "The operation is complicated, do not know how to find the content you want to see" These two options are listed two and three, and the selection rate is 28% and 20.9% respectively; for remote controls, "there are too many remote controls, do not know which one to use", "can't see the remote control buttons clearly." The selection rates for the options of "Remote Control Won't Press or Old Press Wrong" and "Can't Find the Remote Control" were 17.6%, 11.8%, 11.3% and 9.1%, respectively; in addition, the selection rates of the two options of "Can't find help when encountering problems" and "Children are too busy to teach how to use" were 13.4% and 9.1%, respectively.
3. What to do if you encounter difficulties
When encountering difficulties, respondents will first tend to ask their children how to operate, and the "Ask Children" option has a 40.3% acceptance rate, ranking first; "Online Search", "Ask Wife or Neighbors, Friends, etc." and "Call and Ask Manufacturer Customer Service" options are 33. 8%, 21.9% and 13.1%; it is worth noting that when it comes to difficulties in controlling the TV, some respondents directly choose not to watch it, and the selection rate of this option is 27.2%.
(5) What function points do you want the TV to have
The elderly like to watch their usual favorite channels, or TV series or health care programs, but now the general operation of smart TVs is a bit complicated, what should be the tv that is well controlled in the minds of the elderly?
The survey found that "get rid of the remote control, control the TV operation completely through voice" the highest selection rate, 47.9%; "equipped with a camera, you can view the situation at home through the mobile phone" and "can video chat through the TV" The selection rate was 35.5% and 34%, respectively, the three options were ranked in the top three; the most understanding of how the TV operates, of course, is the manufacturer, "1 to 1 customer service, when the children are not available, can help solve the problem in real time" The selection rate of this option is 30.6%, This also reflects the respondent's desire to be able to easily get help from the manufacturer's customer service staff in the first place when encountering difficulties.
Fourth, the old TV purchase guide
As mentioned above, the current online video, online live broadcasting, electronic games and other information technology entertainment means have caused a great impact on the ratings of traditional live television, but television sets still maintain a very important entertainment method and information channel status among the elderly. Although the elderly have always been the key group to watch TV programs and use TV products, for a long time, the core performance and key functions of TV sets have revolved around images, sound processing, input signal optimization and other aspects. With the rise of the concept of smart home, television sets as the first batch of home appliances to achieve intelligent upgrading. In the process of intelligence, the definition of products, functions, and interaction requirements takes less into account the actual use of the elderly group, resulting in various pain points for elderly users when using TVs.
In addition, with the post-80s and post-90s gradually becoming the main consumer group in the market, the task of buying TV often falls on the shoulders of young people, and the elderly group, as the actual high-frequency users of TV products, cannot actually participate in the purchase of TV. As one of the most commonly used home appliances for the elderly, how to make smart TVs assume more social responsibilities of filial piety and love for the elderly, and how consumers can choose a smart TV product with a higher degree of ageing, has become a topic that every child and even the whole society needs to face together.
In order to establish and improve the aging standard system for intelligent terminal products and study and formulate an evaluation system for the aging level of intelligent terminal products, the Electronic Information Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology led a number of associations and research institutes to issue the "Technical Requirements for Aging Design of Smart TVs" on June 29, 2021. The group standard of "Smart TV Ageing Design Technical Requirements" restricts and standardizes the aging principles and requirements that smart TVs should comply with in the design stage from multiple levels, aiming to solve the difficulties encountered by the elderly in the daily use of intelligent products and enjoy intelligent services, so that elderly users can enjoy the convenience brought by intelligent products, information technology and scientific and technological services more conveniently, faster and more warmly, so that the majority of the elderly can obtain a sense of satisfaction and happiness.
In order to facilitate the purchase and let the elderly group buy satisfactory TV products, we have summarized the following dimensions according to the "Smart TV Ageing Design Technical Requirements", hoping to provide some help for consumers in choosing an age-appropriate TV.
(1) Television interaction is suitable for aging
Smart TV is born with the popularity of home broadband, the rise of the Internet O2O ecology and the richness of network video content. From the perspective of equipment use scenarios, compared with the traditional radio and television programs in the past when tv viewing channels were single, the broadcast time was fixed, and the audience segmentation was lacking, the use of smart TVs was more inclined to facilitate viewing anytime and anywhere, program content could be broadcast, and resources were thousands of people on smart phones and mobile Internet audio and video resources on tablets; from the perspective of system software, the smart TV products of mainstream brands on the market now use Tizen and WebOS in addition to a very few manufacturers such as Samsung and LG And other independent research and development of independent operating systems, the rest of the manufacturers' smart TVs are equipped with Google's Android (Android) operating system, or can be compatible with the Android system application of the independent research and development of operating systems, in addition to the system interface for the characteristics of TV interaction customization, the underlying operation logic and smart mobile phones are no different; and from a hardware point of view, in recent years, smart TVs have used ARM architecture processors, and even some TV products are directly equipped with mobile phone processors.
Since smart TVs are very similar to smart phones at all levels, the difficulties encountered by elderly users in the process of using smart TVs are similar to those encountered when using smart phones. It can be seen from the questionnaire that the problems that plague the smooth use of smart TVs by elderly users are mostly reported as "inconvenient to operate", and the specific problems are "can not go directly to the TV programs you want to watch after booting", "I don't know how to switch between devices", "I don't know how to find the programs I want to watch", "too many remote controls" and so on.
With the continuous maturity of artificial intelligence technologies such as speech recognition, voiceprint recognition, semantic recognition, etc., the speech recognition module equipped with smart TVs has also made great progress in content functions, recognition accuracy, and feedback capabilities, and now the smart TVs on the market have basically bid farewell to the "1.0" stage of relying solely on remote controllers to wake up speech recognition, and have come to the "2.0" stage of speech recognition that is mainly far-field speech and supplemented by remote control wake-up.
The improvement of speech recognition ability makes the smart TV closer to the large-screen smart speaker in the use scenario of speech, and the user can not only set the system, adjust the video progress, control the sound, turn on the machine and other basic operations of the TV through the voice, but also watch the weather, order takeout, check the courier, listen to music, control smart home appliances, and even chat with the built-in intelligent assistant like the smart speaker. Because the smart TV has a large screen, compared with the traditional smart speaker or the smart speaker with the screen, the display content is more and more intuitive, and the operation of the small screen speaker is difficult to achieve directly on the large screen such as smart home control, online shopping, transaction payment and so on. It is believed that in the future, with the iterative upgrading of speech recognition technology, voice interaction will replace the remote control and become the preferred interaction method for users.
For the elderly users, the remote control has different devices are difficult to distinguish, easy to lose, the button feel is poor, the lack of input feedback, the operation angle is small and other drawbacks, especially in the process of TV intelligence, manufacturers are more inclined to match the smart TV with a "simple version" of the remote control, in order to highlight the product's scientific and technological atmosphere, in line with the minimalist aesthetics favored by young users, and selectively ignore the difficulty of operation of elderly users. For elderly users, voice operation TV is obviously more intuitive, especially smart TVs with far-field voice functions, which can realize remote control-free operation of TVs.
When consumers choose a smart TV with an aging design, they should pay attention to the fact that its speech recognition function should be able to cover the common operations of elderly users, and not float on the surface. For example, some smart TV products, whose speech recognition function is only for the system UI and built-in apps, are powerless in the face of third-party app search, click, progress adjustment and other operations. In addition, it is best to choose a smart TV product with dialect recognition function, which is convenient for old users who are not standard in Mandarin to use voice to operate the TV. For the cable TV set-top box used by elderly users at a high frequency, how to cover the voice function in the smart TV to the set-top box end is also the key to the design of the old product.
(2) Problem feedback is suitable for aging
Although the reasons for the inconvenience of operation of elderly users are objective factors such as the fragmentation of viewing devices and video apps caused by the era of streaming media copyright, they also reflect the lack of age-appropriate design of smart TVs, operating systems and their ecological environments. In particular, smart TV systems and applications are born out of the interactive logic of smart phones, and the phenomenon of unclear entrance and chaotic interaction logic leads to frequent cascading menus, repeated jumps, cumbersome verification, etc. that hinder users from operating the TV smoothly, and even in serious cases, there is even an endless loop, affecting the normal use of the TV. Especially for elderly users, smart phones are generally not familiar, it is difficult to operate smart TVs according to the experience of using mobile phones, and in the face of complex system interactions, they can only sigh and sigh in vain, and it is difficult to enjoy the convenience that smart TVs bring to life.
In the process of operating smart TVs, elderly users encounter difficulties that are the norm. When encountering difficulties, the first thing that elderly users think of is usually to seek help from their children.
However, in modern society, many elderly people live alone, empty nest elderly people in the face of the problem of operating smart TVs, subjectively often unwilling to give their children too much "trouble", really encounter problems are not willing to too much "trouble children", children are difficult to take the initiative to help parents; or objectively children are busy with work, usually not around the elderly, there is no time to teach the elderly to use.
Others think of web searches or call customer service. However, for smart television products, the popular science teaching content on the network is relatively limited, and because of the particularity of TV products, there is a big difference between the systems between different products of each brand, and it is difficult for elderly users to directly find the help content of "prescribing the right medicine"; the customer service of smart TV manufacturers is difficult to call, and only provide services during working hours, and it is impossible to help elderly users in real time.
For the old TV, in addition to the performance, function, price and other parameters of the product itself, consumers should also pay attention to whether the after-sales service of the product is perfect and whether the customer service can do all-weather follow-up service.
(3) Smart functions are suitable for aging
Since 2019, a wave of "wisdom" has been set off in China's color TV market. Relying on the microphone hardware required for the far-field voice function, in addition, after installing a camera on the TV, the TV obtains the input and output capability of the two-way audio and video. If the ordinary smart TV is a simple output device, the smart screen TV is equipped with video dialogue function, making full use of the interactive nature of the tv large screen, so that the video dialogue is no longer limited to the small screen of the mobile phone and tablet, the user does not have to hold the mobile phone all the time, free up both hands for video calls, invisibly reducing the threshold of video calls, increasing the frequency of use.
In the face of elderly users, the video dialogue function of the TV set is coordinated with voice interaction, which greatly reduces the difficulty of video calls between the elderly and children, friends, and relatives, improves the use experience of video dialogue, and can also allow many people to live video chat with multiple real-time dialogue functions of the smart TV system; for the problem of the personal safety of the elderly that the society is more concerned about, the smart TV equipped with a camera has a wider field of view than the mobile phone front camera, which can cover more areas in the home, and compared to the home security camera, The perspective of the TV camera is closer to daily life, which is more conducive to the timely detection of unexpected situations by children.
In addition, relying on the processing performance of the TV system chip and the CAMERA's AI image recognition capabilities, the AI camera can also enhance the TV's somatosensory, motion capture, face recognition and other interesting functions. AI fitness for elderly users can allow the elderly to exercise, dance square dance and other sports when the outdoor weather is not good, eliminating the health problems that the elderly may produce when they get up early to exercise, and reducing the travel difficulty brought about by the morning rush hour; AI action recognition can identify whether the actions of the elderly are standardized and in place through artificial intelligence, and prevent the damage caused by non-standard fitness actions to the elderly's body.
(4) The system interface is suitable for aging
The group standard of "Smart TV Ageing Design Technical Requirements" starts from the perspective of streamlining the operation of elderly users and puts forward the need for "simple mode" for aging smart TVs. According to the different titles of the product system, the simple mode can be called "simple mode", "elderly mode" or "elderly mode", etc. The "Standard" requires that the simple mode of smart TV should use auxiliary technology or auxiliary functions to improve the convenience of the elderly to use the functions of the smart TV, and improve the visual and auditory experience of the elderly when watching smart TV. In addition, in order to facilitate elderly users to quickly and conveniently see the programs they want to watch, the concise mode should allow users to choose to enter after the smart TV is powered on, and allow users to easily select live TV, IPTV and other program content.
In addition to simplifying the system interaction logic and user operation mode, the simple mode also adds a series of ageing auxiliary functions for the loss of hearing, vision, cognitive ability and mobility that may occur in elderly users, including ordinary and real-time subtitles, audio description, clear voice, large font, graphic symbols, screen magnification, high contrast, color deficiency compensation and other adjustment functions.
When consumers choose smart TVs for elderly users, it is best to choose smart TV products with "simple mode" according to the relevant requirements of the group standard of "Smart TV Adaptive Aging Design Technical Requirements".
(5) The purchase price is suitable for aging
Many elderly users do not know much about TV products, and they are often purchased by their children. The elderly are often more concerned about the price factor of the TV based on the experience of thrift and simplicity, rather than the software and hardware parameters such as performance and function. According to the questionnaire, more than half of the respondents' TV purchase price is less than 6,000 yuan, but consumers are not price-oriented. Above 8,000 yuan, the most feature-rich, most powerful high-end TV and low-end TV below 2,000 yuan have become the most unsought-after price segment, which shows that consumers are more concerned about the comprehensive cost performance of TV products when purchasing smart TVs.
From a technical point of view, the smart TV aging function is more based on the collaborative adaptation of software and hardware, or the function realization of pure software, relying on the high-end hardware of the aging function is relatively rare, so the requirements for hardware are not high, and manufacturers are also willing to decentralize the functions to the entire series of products to increase the competitiveness of the brand. From the perspective of actual products, the vast majority of existing products on the market have already had speech recognition functions, far-field voice, video calls and other advanced version of the function has also begun to popularize in the mid-range model, in general, 4000-6000 yuan of mid-range models in the function, price, parameters, performance and other dimensions are relatively balanced, consumers can buy according to actual needs.
(6) The use experience is suitable for aging
The hardware and price of the TV are directly related. After many rounds of price wars, the cost of television sets has become transparent, and "one penny for one penny" has become the main theme of the market. The traditional concept of the elderly is that the television set is subordinate to major appliances, and unless there is a problem or failure, it will not take the initiative to upgrade or replace the TV. According to the questionnaire, more than 40% of the TVs currently used in the respondents' homes are products purchased 5 years ago, and nearly 80% of the respondents have purchased TV for more than 3 years.
However, most of the smart TVs on the market currently use the same Android platform as smartphones, with fast hardware iteration speed and frequent system and application upgrades. According to the current law of the mobile phone market, the hardware will appear obviously stuttering in about 2-3 years, and there is still a significant gap between the TV and the flagship mobile phone in the same period. When elderly users face frequent stuttering or even crashes, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, and the threshold for the use of smart TVs is increased out of thin air. For older TVs, it is necessary to ensure the basic flow of the system for at least 3-5 years.
In addition, the eyesight of elderly users generally shows a trend of degradation, watching TV for a long time, especially the more irritating video content, will accelerate the process of eye strain, causing symptoms of dry eyes and pain, and when it is serious, there will be blurred things to see, and even accelerate eye aging, resulting in a series of problems.
Therefore, how to link the visual fatigue caused by long-term movie viewing of old TV from the root is particularly important for old users. At present, some smart TVs on the market are mainly realized through the anti-blue light at the software level in terms of eye protection function, but this method only adds a layer of yellow filter to the video screen, one is not good, and the other will affect the actual color performance of the picture, which will affect the normal viewing of the movie. In the eye protection level of the old TV, in addition to the use of hardware anti-blue light technology, in the bottom layer to remove the damage caused by blue harmful light to the eyes, it is best to have a DC dimming function, to eliminate the stimulation of the eyes by the screen flash, to alleviate eye fatigue.
(This article is for informational purposes only and does not represent any of our investment advice.) For usage information, see the original report. ）
Featured report source: [Future Think Tank].