More than half of internet users surveyed in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan and Germany watched video content out of their homes at least once a month, according to consumer surveys conducted in the first quarter of 2018 by business information provider IHS Markit.
Of those viewers, one out of six did so on a daily basis. Internet users between the ages of 17 and 24 over-indexed in out-of-home video in these countries - 80 percent viewed content outside their homes at least once a month, and nearly 25 percent of those who did, did so on a daily basis.
According to the latest report from IHS Markit, Brazil had the highest incidence of out-of-home video viewing among the countries surveyed, with two-thirds of respondents viewing content at least once a week. Men were, on average, nearly twice as likely to watch video content out of the home on a daily basis than women, with the highest difference in the UK, where they were three times as likely.
As portable devices become an increasingly popular way to access videos, the ability to view content outside the home is also a key factor in the video services consumers choose. In fact, more than half of respondents claimed the ability to watch videos on their mobile devices was somewhat or very important, rising to three-quarters, among younger consumers — those aged 17 to 34. More than two thirds of 17- to 34-year-olds in homes with pay TV subscriptions used their multiscreen services on a smartphone or tablet at least once a month, compared to just half of those between the ages of 35 and 54.
Online video services are the go-to platforms for content
Netflix had the strongest crossover with pay TV across markets surveyed in Q1 2018. “In Brazil, Netflix overlap with pay TV is the highest, with three quarters of Claro TV and Sky Brazil customers taking Netflix alongside their pay TV subscription. Amazon overlap remains low in a market where Amazon Instant Video is only available on a standalone basis, with minimal localization of content and where local players Claro Video and Globo Play see higher uptake,” said Daniel Sutton, analyst for TV media at IHS Markit.
“Pay TV operators are responding to the growth in online video by expanding distribution of their multiscreen services across devices and bringing third-party apps onto their own set-top boxes.” said Fateha Begum, associate director for connected devices and media consumption at IHS Markit. “In the UK, Virgin Media customers are twice as likely to have a Netflix subscription than Sky TV customers, highlighting the benefits of content discovery integration”.
YouTube, Netflix and Amazon were the most popular video platforms in the five countries surveyed, when looking for something to watch, beating pay TV and broadcaster video-on-demand (VoD) services in most markets in the first quarter of 2018. However, the popularity of these platforms varied according to geography. For example, YouTube was the most popular service in Japan, with 84 percent reporting it as their first choice when looking for something to watch, while Sky TV in the UK was the only pay TV operator to maintain the top position in any country surveyed, with 30 percent of UK respondents claiming it is their first choice.
“The extensive reach of online video platforms, covering customers from across the various pay TV platforms and devices, threatens pay TV service viewership and value perceptions,” Begum said. “Bringing online video services to set-top boxes allows pay TV operators to maintain and control their customer relationships and experiences, while presenting their platforms as the best way to find and view the widest variety of content.
