Streaming TV Increases Popularity Across Demographics

More than half of the core U.S. TV viewing population viewed some streaming video in a given week.

Market researcher GfK says 51% of those 13-54 years of age watch a TV program or movie via streaming video platforms. This is up from 48% in 2012 and 37% higher than three years ago.

Almost two-thirds -- 62% -- of video users who are 13 to 33 years old stream TV or movies weekly, while the percentage is 46% among 34- to-47-year-olds and 30% for those 48 to 54 years old. Five percent of consumers use a tablet to watch streaming video of TV programs or movies on a weekly basis, and 4% use a smartphone.

One of the big streaming video platforms -- that of subscription video-on-demand service Netflix -- gives viewers some big options.

Research shows that 13- to-54-year-olds use Netflix to watch 2.7 TV programs a week and 1.4 movies a week. Almost half of those users also say they would “definitely” or “probably” cancel their Netflix service if their pay TV service -- cable, satellite or telco company -- offered up a similar service at a similar price.

While overall streaming video usage is climbing, streaming video via traditional TV services is slowly gaining traction on “TV Everywhere” platforms, where TV content can be seen on different digital platforms.

About one-third of 13-54 viewers say their TV provider offers TV Everywhere -- although only about 7% of those surveyed have actually used it.

The report says video-game consoles are an untapped source of access. Forty-seven percent of TV homes have streaming-ready game systems, but only 9% use them weekly for streaming.

Video piracy might be slightly higher, according to the research. Now, 17% of those surveyed say they have streamed or downloaded video they knew was illegal. Three years ago, in 2010, this activity was at 9%.

The June 2013 study was conducted with 1,065 persons 13-54; 1,007 of those who completed detailed information about ownership and usage. The average time to complete the survey was 19 minutes, with a cooperation rate among the assigned sample at 42%.

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4 comments about "Streaming TV Increases Popularity Across Demographics".
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  1. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, September 10, 2013 at 1:30 p.m.

    Random sample? Panel study? This is the same research firm that inflates the number of viewers using over-the-air signals.

  2. John Grono from GAP Research, September 10, 2013 at 7:23 p.m.

    What are the odds that the average time to complete the survey (19 minutes) was higher than the average streaming time during the week (not that they bothered to report the duration, just the higher reach number).

  3. Fraser E from Opinions expressed herein are solely my own, September 11, 2013 at 8:06 p.m.

    All I know is, THIS is the ad-delivery vacuum nightmare that DVR was always supposed to be. Over time, we learned that DVR usage really didn't impact advertising effectiveness at the campaign level, because there just wasn't that much ad skipping going on, and even if there was, ad recall remained strong. But because some of the big streaming services like Netflix don't stream ads, that is "prime" viewership which is now beyond the reach of traditional advertisers. And that's going to hurt.

  4. Fraser E from Opinions expressed herein are solely my own, September 12, 2013 at 6:12 p.m.

    As I was saying...

    http://adage.com/article/media/cartoon-network-netflix-s-latest-ratings-victim/244123/

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