Free SVOD Services: Lots Of Ads, Less Demand

Free subscription video services -- those that come with heavy amounts of TV commercials -- have questionable consumer demand.

Overall, when a study asked respondents if Netflix or Hulu offered a free TV service but you were required to watch TV commercials, 70% says they would watch; 30% said they would not, according to a recent TiVo survey.

But drilling down to specifics yielded other results. Research said 83% of those viewers would tolerate only one to four TV commercials in a 30-minute show.

Personalized TV commercials based on viewers interest didn’t seem to matter much. Only 14% said they would tolerate commercials if they were more relevant; 86% saying they weren’t interested at all.

In this regard, the study says it supports Hulu's decision to essentially de-emphasized its free version: “It would be very difficult for a SVOD to be successful with this limited number of revenue-driving commercials.”

In a related question, concerning a possible price hike for the commercial-free Netflix service, respondents 39% said the most they would pay is between $12 and $15 a month; another 30% said they would not pay more than they are already paying.

The survey was done in the third quarter of this year among 3,140 respondents aged 18+.

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1 comment about "Free SVOD Services: Lots Of Ads, Less Demand ".
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  1. Daniel Olson from The Loyalty Consultants, November 18, 2016 at 12:27 p.m.

    As the industry continues to change and the cost of providing entertainment continues to shift more and more to the consumer / viewer, there will become a need for the SVOD providors to compete on more than just the content they provide. The consumer / viewer if having to pay and pay increasiningly will require a better customer experience from the providors. The amount of competition that is here today and coming tomorow will change how we as consumer pick and chose. It is one thing to have a choice of any for no cost and a different thing to have decide what to pay for. This will change how entertainment is marketed and more inportantly how viewers / customers are treated. Loyalty will be built through a combination of great content and a differentiation in customer experience. The providor brands themselves will need to begin to develop their brands to stand for and mean something as well.


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