Commentary
Millennials Favor Netflix, OTT, Not Demo-Targeted Services
- by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 6, 2018
Looking for the next MTV in the new digital video world? Digital video for young millennials could be YouTube, or other easy-to-access, ad-supported digital video platforms.
Apparently, that is not totally the case.
According to one survey, Netflix is the choice place for video for millennials. (And it's also a choice for older TV viewers as well.)
This isn’t the mid-1990s. Perhaps audience segmentation into different networks -- or separately branded, over-the-top digital video platforms -- is an old thing.
A survey of 2,500 people from Cowen & Co., an investment management company, says that almost 40% of respondents, ages 18-24, used Netflix most often to view video content. YouTube was next at 17%; basic ad-supported cable around 13% (Hello, MTV!); Hulu, 7.6%; and broadcast TV, 7.5%.
Those surveyed answering this question: “Which platforms do you use most often to view video content on TV?”
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Looking at all respondents, Netflix was still on top at 27%. Basic cable was next at 20%, followed by broadcast at 18%; and YouTube at 11%.
Cowen’s results may not mean much to TV analysts. Longtime TV research data -- especially data from Nielsen -- would point to many individual broadcast networks taking top positions.
Still, some of this data may suggest how young millennials respond to specific media and video brands -- especially those looking to target them.
Remember FullScreen? It was a new OTT that specifically targeted young Netflix-leaning viewers. The joint venture between AT&T and the Chernin Group -- launched in the spring of 2016 -- closed down barely a year and half later, in November 2017.
FullScreen tried to attack its rival on price. Where Netflix charges round $11 to $12 per month. FullScreen charged at $4.99/month.
NBCUniversal's Seeso -- a comedy-based OTT with NBC “Saturday Night Live” and other young-comedy content -- also made a push. It started in January 2016 and closed in November 2017. It also was modestly priced.
So what is the secret? Netflix doesn’t specifically target young viewers; and neither does YouTube or Hulu.
Maybe the best big video OTT brands have under-the-radar, audience-segmented strategies. Of course, many would say that all digital media is primarily for young millennials these days. That could be the real answer.
Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost. You can reach Wayne at wayne@mediapost.com.
Wayne, the notion that Netflix is a young adult's channel---meaning 18-24s or even 18-34s----is a myth. The primary viewing thrust seems to be somewhere in the 25-54 range where frequency of viewing is concerned. As for the Cowan study, this is the expected finding from such questionning and I'm surprised that Netflix didn't score much higher---like 75%---as being the channel used "most often" to view video content. However if you look at meter evidence from comScore, you will find that a typical Netflix subscribing home tunes in its content about once every two days and some homes aren't even "reached" on a monthly basis. Overall, Netflix has only a 6-7 share of all viewing and even if this rises to around 10% for younger-middle aged adults this is not a dominant situation compared to the broadcast TV networks taken collectively, whose share is roughly 15% or basic cable which leads everyone, collectively, with about 50%.