According to the 2024 China Smart TV Interaction Trend Report by the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, the TV activation rate in the country dropped from 70% to below 30% from 2016 to 2022. China's color TV market also dropped sharply, from 50.89 million to 36.34 million units in the same period.

There are many reasons why people don't buy TVs as much as before. The main reason is that technology has changed the way people live. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are gradually replacing TVs. According to some Chinese netizens, they haven't watched TV for a long time, even letting the TV collect dust. Many families only turn on the TV to listen to the sound.

According to experts, another reason comes from the manufacturers themselves, which is that they create smart TVs just to charge and watch ads without caring how users will watch.

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Users have to go through many complicated steps if they want to watch programs on smart TVs. Photo: Shutterstock

Smart TVs have many annoying problems during use: from ads appearing right when turning on/off the power to unclear membership fees, inconvenient use to being unfriendly to the elderly...

Mr. Giang Vo Tich, a smart TV user, shared that when turning on/off the TV or choosing a program, he has to watch a 30-second advertisement.

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Report on China Smart TV Interaction Trends in 2024. Source: Qianzhan Industrial Research Institute

According to the Survey Report on Smart TV On/Off Ads released by the China Institute of Financial Research in 2021, more than 89.9% of survey participants said that smart TVs in their homes have ads when turning on/off the TV, and up to 86.9% of manufacturers do not install “One-click Ad Off/Skip” features.

Meanwhile, 72.73% said they could not stand those ads even for 1 second. In addition, they also had a "headache" with the fees of smart TVs such as annual/quarterly membership packages, packages to watch children's channels, learning channels, entertainment, sports ...

Elderly people confused when using smart TV

Mr. Wang, who lives in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, did not know how to use the TV at his grandfather's house when he returned home for the New Year. "There are three remote controls alone: ​​one for network TV, one for cable TV, and one for the cable TV digital receiver. I tried forever but could not switch from network TV to cable TV. Watching TV is for entertainment, why has it become so troublesome?" Mr. Wang said.

If traditional TVs can be turned on and watched, smart TVs and network TVs have many options on the screen, and if you want to watch a national or local channel, you have to change the channel. If you want to watch your favorite program, you have to go through countless steps. Most of the people who watch TV every day are middle-aged and elderly, and using smart TVs is too complicated. Mr. Vuong said that every time he turns on the TV, he has to call his grandchild to help.

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6 reasons why TV viewing rates in China are getting lower and lower. Source: Qianzhan Industrial Research Institute

In order to eliminate inconvenience to users, in November 2023, the State Administration of Radio, Television and Online Audio-Visual issued three standards for the radio, television and online audio-visual industries, setting out clear requirements for the start-up time, operation procedures and payment notifications for three types of terminal TV: cable TV, IPTV and network TV.

Specifically, the technical requirements of cable TV service and the technical requirements of IPTV service, both cable TV and IPTV terminals must provide two options for startup mode: "Power on to full screen live broadcast" and "Power on to live broadcast channel featured interactive home page".

The default system is set to "Power on to full screen live broadcast". The time required to start up cable TV and IPTV terminal should not exceed 35 seconds, and the start-up time should not be extended due to the playing of start-up ads or other special content.

Do not set up "1-Click Pay Now" actions if it involves payment. For actions related to ordering or canceling services, clear instructions and steps should be provided on the user interface, and clear payment confirmation or cancellation steps should be provided, do not set up "1-Click Pay Now" actions.

In addition, the cable TV and IPTV remote control should have a hotkey to watch live broadcast channels, through which you can directly enter the full-screen broadcast mode, and this key should be named "Watch TV".

According to the technical requirements of network TV service, the startup time of network TV application should be preferably less than 3 seconds and should not exceed 5 seconds. If there is an advertisement displayed during the startup process, the advertisement time must be within the startup time.

Interactive home pages should not include pop-up ads; there should be a prominent and convenient entry to the free service area. Regarding payment notifications, network TVs should not include "One-Click Payment" for service purchases or cancellations, and for any recurring or ongoing payment services, there should be a clear and proactive notification before payment is made.

(According to cheaa.com)