New OTT Services Raise TV Viewership

by Wayne Friedman , April 19, 2016

New over-the-top viewing services -- thanks to their original programming -- are creating more TV viewing consumption.

A new survey says HBO Now and Netflix, in particular, are doing just this. Some 76% say there is an increase in viewing time because of HBO Now original programming, according to Adobe Primetime, in partnership with The Diffusion Group.

This is followed by Netflix, which 65% of respondents say lend positive influence on overall TV viewership.

The survey says original programming on Hulu Plus had the least influence -- 39%.

When it comes to pay subscription video services, Netflix is still the most popular -- used by 70% of all video streamers (using free or pay services). Amazon Prime is at 30%, and Hulu Plus, 21%. Also, 82% of video streamers subscribe to a subscription service, with rates highest among 18-34 year olds -- 91%.

Looking at free streaming services, 88% of all video streamers used those platforms -- 95% for those 18-24s. YouTube is the most popular by far, 83%. This is followed by Hulu at 23%, and Crackle, 19%. For those 18-24 year olds, YouTube is the most popular at 92%; Vevo is next at 27%.

For individual per play subscription services, iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Instant View are top players, each used by around 12% of video streamers. Overall, 34% of video streamers use this kind of transactional service.

Adobe Primetime says the survey was conducted in January 2016, randomly selected from an online consumer panel of several million double opt-in respondents 2,000 U.S. adult broadband users.

Pre-survey quotas and post-survey weights derived from Pew Internet’s latest broadband users research were imposed for six criteria: age, gender, education,ethnicity, annual household income and geographic region.

consumer generated, ott, streaming, tv

2 comments about "New OTT Services Raise TV Viewership".

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M Cohen from marshall cohen associates, April 19, 2016 at 5:37 p.m.
Really not sure what a lot of the sentences in this article mean.......First, you write that "Some 76% say there is an increase in viewing time because of HBO Now original programming, according to Adobe Primetime, in partnership with The Diffusion Group.
This is followed by Netflix, which 65% of respondents say lend positive influence on overall TV viewership."

What does that mean? Perhaps if we knew what the question asked was, it would help.

Then the article says....."When it comes to pay subscription video services, Netflix is still the most popular -- used by 70% of all video streamers (using free or pay services). "

Is that "ever" used? Use "regularly/occasionally?" and is the 70% -- "of those who use free services?" Might that be what the parentheses mean? Or is it of the total sample?

I am also very confused about the sample and even more concerned about the weighting. With quotas on the front end (screening out unwanted respondents) and weighting on the back end, how much weighting? How far off was the original sample?

And even though you didnt say, I assume this survey was conducted online.

When reading a summary of a research study, it would be so great to know: How was the sample obtained, how large was it, when and how was the study done, how long was it, who did it and how random or representative was it? What exectly were the Qs asked? What were the results and the implications? And what have we learned?

CASRO (http://www.casro.org/?page=TheCASROCode2014) has a code which it's 350+ members follow in the appropriate release of research information. It's a good way to keep everyone honest. Thanks Wayne!
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Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, April 19, 2016 at 5:58 p.m.

This flies in the face of all of the theorizing---not necessarily incorrect---that OTT services are deriving most or all of their viewing from disaffected "linear TV" viewers. It stands to reason that as more channels become available this causes a modest rise in total TV usage. If this is the case, I hope that we will get far more precise data from Nielsen to documant it.