Video-on-Demand (VOD) and TV Everywhere are pushing the consumption of multi-screen TV services to new levels. If you are hogging your TV set or are forever staring into your smartdevice, streaming your favourite sitcoms, movies and music videos from the internet one after another, you are not alone. According to Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Media Report, video streaming is on track to becoming the most preffered way to access content and is expected to take over the traditional broadcast TV viewing.
In its report, Ericsson said that 75 percent of consumers watched streamed content several times a week, compared to 77 percent who watch scheduled broadcast TV programming several times a week. In addition, there was a 25% increase in the number of consumers (1 in every five) who are prepared to pay for access to content on any device, showing an increasing willingness to pay for "anywhere access". The survey was participated by more than 23,000 people in 23 countries.
According to Ericsson, subscription-based video on demand (S-VOD) services such as Netflix and Hulu are becoming more popular with 48% of respondents stating their preference of having access to all episodes of a series from which they can choose and watch from. The use of digital video recorder (DVR) has also increased as it allows subscribers to leverage their traditional broadcast and Pay TV subscriptions to build their own content library which they can access anytime later, added Ericsson. In addition, the report highlighted that the cost of data connection and the cost of content remain as major barriers for further adoption of the TV Everywhere and Video-on-Demand services.
"Our research shows that 56 percent of those who pay for subscription-based video on demand services prefer all episodes of a TV series to be available at once, so they can watch at their own pace, compared with 45 percent for those who don't pay for S-VOD. This shows the impact that such services have on consumer viewing behavior and requirements. There are different ways to binge watch: some viewers do not discover a TV series until mid-season, so they will watch many episodes one after the other to catch up before the season is over. Others prefer to watch an entire season at their own pace, which means they have to wait until the entire season is available."
"The results of the study are clear - media companies need to rethink how they create and release content, while the focus for TV service providers is on delivering the highest possible quality for viewers, no matter what device they are watching on. The landscape is changing rapidly, and business and delivery models will have to keep up with that pace of change if they are to continue to deliver perceived value to consumers."
- Niklas Heyman Rönnblom, Senior Advisor at Ericsson ConsumerLab
