U.S. Internet users 18-34 years old – aka Millennials – spend one-third of their original TV series consumption time watching on digital platforms, primarily tablets and PCs, according to comScore’s “The U.S. Total Video Report.”
Seeking to measure video viewing among U.S. Internet users across screens large and small – traditional broadcast, pay-TV, satellite and digital platforms – comScore found that, “generally speaking, the older the viewer the greater percentage of time spent watching on ‘traditional’ TV sets.”
Millennials’ TV Viewing
Over 10 percent (about one out of six) of Millennials said they had not watched any original TV series via traditional TV sets in the past 30 days – “a significant trend highlighting the potential for non-linear TV viewing to erode over time,” the comScore report authors highlight. Forty-four percent of the time Millennial survey respondents spent watching original TV series was done via computer, 49 percent via tablet and 31 percent via smartphone – all “considerable and substantially higher than older age segments,” comScore’s study revealed.
Millennials are also more apt to watch TV using an Internet-connected device, such as an Apple TV or Roku set-top box (STB), Google Chromecast stick, gaming console or Blu-Ray player. According to comScore, this suggests “that when they do watch original series content on a traditional TV set they often do so through a digital connection or streaming.”
U.S. Total Video Report
ComScore gathered and analyzed responses to an online questionnaire completed by 1,159 survey participants. The resulting U.S. Total Video Report is broken out across four video modes of viewing: Online TV Viewing; Time-Shifted Viewing; Pay TV Subscriptions; and Digital Video Subscriptions, ie Netflix, Amazon Instant Video or Hulu Plus.
Over half the respondents said schedule flexibility and convenience were the main reasons they watch TV content via the Internet. Other reasons cited include the ability to skip commercials, the ability to “binge watch,” and lower cost.
Younger generations are more likely to watch an original series online, with 45 percent of them watching via the Internet. Thirteen percent of them watch original TV series online exclusively. That compares to just 17 percent of those 55+ who said they watch at least some original TV series content online.
Younger viewers are also more likely to time-shift TV viewing, watching a show after it has appeared “live.” Nearly half (46 percent) of Millennials’ viewing is typically time-shifted, according to comScore’s report. That compares to 35 percent for those 35-54 years old and 30 percent for those 55 and older.
Notably, comScore also found that 45 percent of those who subscribe to a paid digital video services, such as Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Instant Video time-shift their viewing. That compares to 27 percent among non-subscribers.
Cord Cutters/Neverers
Millennials are also much more likely to cut the cord and not subscribe to a cable or other pay-TV service. Those 18-34 years old “are 77 percent more likely more likely than average to be a ‘cord-never’ household, having never subscribed to pay TV,” comScore highlights. Furthermore, they’re 67 percent more likely to live in a “cord-cutter” household. Those 35-54 are slightly more likely than average to be cord-cutters, while those 55-plus are significantly less likely than average not to subscribe to a pay-TV service.
Pay-OTT
Nearly four in ten households subscribe to a paid digital video subscription service, according to comScore. Netflix topped their ranks at 32 percent, followed by Amazon Instant Video (19 percent) and Hulu Plus (9 percent). Subscription penetration among Millennials is significantly higher, comScore notes, with nearly half being Netflix subscribers.
Accounting for 44 percent of respondents, the most preferred viewing mode among Netflix subscribers is Internet-connected TV devices such as Apple TV or Google Chromecast. Computers (27 percent) and gaming consoles/Blu-Ray players (21 percent) followed.
Netflix penetration among U.S. online households jumps from less than 25 percent among those with 1-2 people to “well over 40 percent among households of three and greater,” comScore highlights.
