According to Nielsen, Video-On-Demand is becoming a part of daily viewing habits for many around the world, regardless of age. In fact, among the 65% of global respondents who
watch any type of VOD programming, including long and short form content, 43% say they watch at least once a day.
It’s not just the youngest respondents viewing
on-demand programming, says the report. While a higher percentage of Generation Z and Millennial respondents report watching on-demand content daily or more often than their older counterparts, more
than one-fifth of Silent Generation respondents, and one-quarter of Baby Boomers say they watch at least once a day. Generation X respondents fall in the middle saying they view daily.
Viewing Frequency Among Those Who Watch Any Type Of
VOD Programming On Any Online Device |
Generation | View Daily | A Few Times/Week | ≤ Three Times/Month |
Generation Z (15-20) | 49% | 34% | 17% |
Millennials (21-34) | 48 | 38 | 19 |
Generation X (35-49) | 38 | 43 | 19 |
Baby
Boomers (50-64) | 26 | 43 | 31 |
Silent Generation (65+) | 21 | 40 | 39 |
Source: Nielsen Global VOD Survey, Q3 2015 |
80% of global respondents who watch on-demand content say they view movies, dominating the type of VOD content watched across all regions and generations, followed by on-demand TV
programs (50%), says the report.When it comes to popular program genres, comedies (38%) and original series (32%) rank the highest globally, followed by sports and documentaries (31% each). 22% of
global respondents say they watch short-form video content (videos of 15 minutes or less in length).
A look at willingness to pay for programming options by generation, among
the current cross-generational popularity of VOD viewers, provides some insight for future viewing patterns
A majority of respondents across all age groups say they pay to
watch broadcast or video programming via a cable and/or satellite service. Globally, 70% of Gen Z and 73% of Millennial respondents pay a traditional provider for content, compared with 77% of Gen X,
64% of Baby Boomer and 63% of Silent Generation respondents.
Online-service subscriptions (such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon) skew younger. 31% each of Gen Z and Millennial
respondents say they pay an online-service provider for content, while the figures are lower among older respondents, as 24% of Gen X, 15% of Baby Boomer and 6% of Silent Gen respondents say they pay
an online service provider for content.
Global Percentage Of Respondents Who Currently Pay Provider For Programming |
| % of Respondents |
Service | GenZ | Millennials | GenX | Boomers | Silent Gen |
Cable and/or Satellite | 70% | 73% | 77% | 64% | 63% |
Online Service | 31 | 31 | 24 | 15 | 6 |
Other | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
Source: Nielsen Global VOD Survey, Q3 2015 (Respondents could select
multiple providers. Does not include respondents who do not subscribe to any paid service) |
Megan Clarken, president, Nielsen Product
Leadership, says “… popularity of online-only video services will continue to put pressure on networks and MVPDs… consumers are cutting back on traditional TV services…
(though) many aren’t severing the cord completely… cord shaving is likely the biggest threat… consumers… consider(ing) slimmer channel packages… provid(ing) a better
match for both preferences and wallets…”
Other findings from the global Video-on-Demand report include:
- 65% of global respondents say they watch
some form of VOD programming, including long-and short-form content
- 59% of global respondents say they don’t mind getting advertising if they can view free content
- 77% of
global respondents who watch VOD programming agree that they do so because they can view at a time that is convenient for them
Among those who watch VOD programming,
Millennials and Gen X respondents are the most likely to agree that they like to catch up on multiple episodes at once
For additional information from Nielsen, please visit here.