Streaming Video Now Accounts for 28% of All TV Watching

A recent study by Gfk MRI shows that 28% of TV viewing is now done via streaming video, says Broadcasting & Cable. Of that

A recent study by Gfk MRI shows that 28% of TV viewing is now done via streaming video, says Broadcasting & Cable. Of that total, 16% watch over-the-top (OTT) TV on a personal computer, laptop or mobile device, 9% view streaming content on an Internet-connect TV, and 3% watch streaming video on a gaming console like Sony PlayStation.The study was conducted as part of Gfk MRI’s “The Future of TV series,” in which the company discovered that people still like to watch TV the old-fashioned way – viewing programs live when they are first broadcast. In fact, 39% of TV watching still occurs live, the study showed.

TV Remote

Another interesting finding is a category that Gfk MRI calls “digital enthusiasts.” This group of viewers accounts for 41% of TV viewing audiences who pay for traditional cable TV plus an average of three streaming TV services like Netflix, Hulu ad Amazon Prime.”Our study reveals important new populations of TV viewers, emphasizing how TV has taken on a whole new meaning, with different approaches to combining streaming and traditional platforms and viewing,” said Christie Kawada, executive VP of Product Management and Innovation at GfK MRI.”We live in a new type of video ecosystem, where online video and live TV co-exist amongst traditional cable offerings, apps, and digital streaming of live TV. These platforms are creating added demand for one another; viewers are checking out more – and different – content, and ultimately watching more.”While the popularity in streaming video escalates, the number of Americans who paid for TV peaked at 97.6 million U.S. households in 2012, says Business Insider. In 2013, that number dropped 150,000, and in 2014, it dropped another 260,000. The Convergence Group, who compiled that data, forecasts bigger drops in 2015 and 2016.While those numbers continue to drop, the number of non-TV subscribers, or cord cutters, who do not have a cable or satellite subscription has grown since 2010. In 2014, 22.8 U.S. households – or 19% – did not have a standard TV subscription. Estimates show that number increasing to 26.8 million, or 21.8% of all television viewing, in two years, according to Business Insider.Insider Take:Many types of entertainment companies (e.g., streaming video, streaming music, books, media etc.) are moving to subscription business models, so consumers have limitless choices of how to spend their disposable income. Will they want to pay for channels they don’t use?For example, looking at television alone, Time Warner Cable’s basic cable package for TV only is $49.99/month for 200 channels, plus taxes and fees. For that same money, a consumer could purchase Netflix ($8.99/month), Hulu ($7.99/month), Amazon Prime ($9.99/month), CBS All Access ($5.99/month) and HBO Now ($14.99/month) for a total of $47.95 per month, plus taxes and fees. Even without a cable TV subscription, viewers have thousands of programming choices.What can we learn from this? Looking at the numbers, live TV is not a deal, but it isn’t dead either, much like reading. More people are reading newspapers, magazines and books digitally, and fewer are subscribing to print publications, so the market is adapting. Traditional, live TV needs to adapt too, offering new options and more affordable pricing. Companies may not make as much, and they may not support exactly the same type of content or services they used to, but they can still be successful.The lesson here is that companies need to be open to change. They need to evolve and ABL&T – always be learning and testing. The big failures we hear about are companies that failed to evolve (e.g., bloated costs, couldn’t move fast enough, etc.), while companies that are nimble and creative have evolved and made both old and new business models work as the world around them has changed.Live TV will not go away, but cable companies have to adapt quickly to stay afloat.   

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