TV Consumers Complain Of Too Many TV Apps
- by Wayne Friedman , November 17, 2015
Are
there too many TV apps, and are they too confusing? One survey says nearly 90% of consumers want just one. Nearly nine out of 10 U.S. pay TV subscribers (86%) want a single app for all of their video watching, according to Boston-based media and technology consulting group Altman Vilandrie & Company.
More specifically, consumers are for the most part staying away from TV apps. The survey says 70% of consumers have not downloaded any network or cable channel apps.
“Consumers are saying that greater choice does not always lead to a better experience”, stated Jonathan Hurd, a company director at Altman Vilandrie & Co. “Managing multiple apps across multiple viewing platforms can be challenging and appears to be limiting the market penetration of nearly all TV apps.”
The most popular TV app is ESPN, downloaded by 27% of those who have downloaded at least one app -- 8% of consumers overall. Next comes CBS (18%), followed by NBC (18%); ABC (16%) and Fox (8%).
ESPN also scores the highest among younger TV users, 18-34s that downloaded its app at a 34% rate. After ESPN comes Comedy Central at 13% -- which is 5% of all app downloaders, and less than 2% of consumers overall.
Among other TV-related results, 89% of young Millennials (18-24) now watch TV shows and/or movies online weekly. More than half of all adults under age 25 binge watch TV shows on Netflix at least once week.
Altman Vilandrie & Co.’s online survey was conducted in July among more than 3,400 U.S. consumers.
Its not just apps. I just bought a chormecast and put it on every PC and mac I have. It will place web video from my chrome browser, but will only selectively play video files from my personal stash, I'm not sure why. What the consumer wants is what one can get from a direct HDMI or equivalent connection from a Mac, directly to the HDMI in of any of the new HD sets. In short, everthing that can appear on one's computer screen. I'm disappointed in the chromecast, suspect I'll be disappointed too with Roku, which I will probably try. Someone ought to create a chromecast like appliance that simply places anything on one's computer screen on the television over wifi. What's out there now is claptrap. Consumers will not be satisfied with such a fractured video world. And no, Cable and Satellite attempts to dominate the online world will not happen. TV users will demand complete access to everything.