• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 10 hours ago

While streaming "churn" continues to challenge executives at TV platforms in the modern entertainment world, being a viewer’s "default" service is increasingly a positive factor.

And that is good news for live, linear TV. Looking at a broad picture, it continues to score the highest level.

In a survey, 46% identify live TV when responding to a question of what service they would choose if they could only pick one, according to Hub Entertainment Research.

In a related question, for viewers' "default" platform -- the service viewers turn on first when they want to watch something -- 72% said it was linear TV.

Hub Entertainment defines live, linear TV as coming from over-the-air, traditional pay TV (cable, satellite), or a virtual (internet-based) pay TV service.

After linear TV -- when viewers were asked which service they would choose if they could only pick one --  Netflix and YouTube Premium were tied for second place at 28%.

For the service they head to after turning on their TV sets, Netflix comes in at 62%, with YouTube Premium at 80% -- compared to ad-supported YouTube at 21% for the platform they would choose and 67% for the service viewers go to after turning on the TV.

Somewhat disparate results were found for FAST platforms (free, ad-supported and streaming services). Forty-five percent said they turn on those channels first when starting up their TV sets. 

But if they had to keep just one service, FAST came in at only 10% when surveying all users.

Disney+ and Hulu also had similar scores, with only 10% saying they would choose these services if they had to choose just one.

Generally speaking, the authors of the study say that their analysis of ongoing cancellation issues found that being a viewer’s first choice -- a default platform --  makes a service six times more resistant to cancellation.