Streaming on-demand services now reach a majority of U.S homes.
About 57% of U.S. households subscribe to over-the-top services from Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu, and nearly half of
all adults stream from those services on a monthly basis, according to a new
survey of 1,200 homes in the U.S. from Leichtman
Research Group in its 14th annual study on on-demand usage.
What’s more, these services are co-existing with on-demand choices from cable and satellite operators.
Interestingly, many of these homes also use other on-demand services, including those from a multichannel video provider. In total, 81% of U.S. homes have a DVR, subscribe to Netflix or use their
multichannel provider’s VOD service, LRG found. Many homes overlap on-demand options — about 30% of households use two of those VOD services, and 13% rely on all choices.
Netflix streaming is becoming a baseline activity for many homes: 37% of U.S. homes stream Netflix each week, up from 8% in 2010, LRG reported. Also, 83% of Netflix streamers are watching it on a TV
set. Streaming is still most popular among younger users, with 77% of those 18 to 24 streaming monthly, compared to 63% in the 25 to 44 range, and 50% in the 45 to 54 group.
The
availability of streaming services isn’t detracting from cable VOD usage. In fact, 51% of all cable subscribers used VOD in the past month, up from 4% in 2010, LRG found.
Overall, SVOD spending in U.S. broadband homes is up nearly 67% since 2012, according to
research from Parks Associates. That firm said the average monthly
spend on SVOD in U.S. homes was $6.19 in 2015, up from $3.71 in 2012. The report also pointed out that those consumers spend less than $1 a month buying digital video, suggesting the subscription
model is indeed the one in demand.
Headlining this piece with the claim that streaming al la Netflix and other SVOD players is the new "norm" is really a stretch. How can streaming video be the new "norm" when it accounts for less than 10% of all viewing?Radio reaches 90% of the adult population per week. Is radio also the new "norm"? How about magazines? Almost 90% of all adults "read" or "look into" at least one magazine's printed copy in a month. Are magazinesw the new "norm"?