While individual subscription video services like Netflix generally continue to grow in subscribers and viewership,
new virtual pay TV services -- which provide access to traditional TV networks -- are slipping, according to a recent TiVo research report.
When asked what vMVPDs (virtual multichannel
video program distributors) respondents “use currently,” many major services have been shown “to stall or are slowly decreasing.”
For example,
YouTube TV is down 29% to a 8.5% “use” number in 2019 versus 2018. DirecTV Now, which has had significant, publicly disclosed subscriber declines, is off 34% to a 4.3% number. Sony’s
PlayStation Vue has lost 25% and is now at a 3.3% level.
advertisement
advertisement
Two of the better-performing vMVPDs -- in terms of overall industry declines -- are Hulu with Live TV, which is 3% lower
to a 6.7% “use” among respondents, and Sling TV, which has dropped 7% to a 3% use. TiVo says that according to its survey, 30.5% claim not to use “any” subscription
video-on-demand services.
Overall, TiVo says live TV still sees the strongest results from viewers, with 65.8% of respondents saying they watching one hour of TV or more
“regularly"; 52.4% saying they watch OTT programming for an hour or more, and 46.8% saying they view DVR/time-shifted video for an hour or more.
In addition, 41.5% of respondents
say they watch one hour or more of sports across all platforms.
The TiVo research is from a survey of 5,340 respondents in the second quarter of 2019, age 18 years and older. The
survey was conducted by a third-party service, with TiVo analyzing the results.