• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, April 11, 2016

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.

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.

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.