Young adult Millennials (18-34) make up 43 percent of the U.S. cordless video market, defined as those who never have had cable, satellite or fiber optic TV service or “cut the cord” on these services, according to GfK MRI’s latest Cord Evolution research.
Nearly one-third of U.S. Millennials (30%) are “cordless,” a substantially higher percentage than that for any other age group. In comparison, just 16 percent of of Baby Boomers are “cordless,” the market research provider highlights in a press release.
Furthermore, Millennials are hard to reach – they’re 44% more likely to be cord-free than the average US consumer, according to GfK MRI’s latest study. In addition, “cordless” Millennials don’t make much use of media channels other than the Internet – they’re heavy streamers and heavy binge viewers, but light on overall TV watching.
Cordless Video Market
Understanding Millennials’ tendencies and preferences as consumers is difficult but essential for online marketers; e-commerce, news, information and entertainment providers, GfK MRI SVP of Consumer Insights & Trends Karen Ramspacher points out.
“Appealing to this unusual combination of untethered living and discernment about content represents a sweet spot for marketers representing millions of brands worldwide,” Ramspacher said.
Elaborating, “cordless” Millennials place a high value on wireless broadband connectivity and are most likely to define TV as anything they can watch on any device, according to GfK MRI.
Furthermore, Millennials tend to stream TV and video content more than any other age demographic. On average they spend 65 percent of their viewing time streaming via a TV set or other connected device. That’s nearly double that for Baby Boomers (36%) who spend 56 percent of their viewing time watching live TV on TV sets.
When it comes to streaming video sources, “cordless” Millennials’ preferences align with the most popular Internet-based services, such as YouTube, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. They also include lesser known and viewed sources, such as Crunchy Roll, Twitch and the Adult Swim App, however.
In addition, when they stream, Millennials are most likely to watch a specific show. One-third (34%) of “cordless” Millennials said this was their “default” viewing strategy, according to GfK MRI.
Summing up, Ramspacher said: “One in three Millennials is living without a cord – so understanding this population is a major priority for advertisers and marketers. These viewers are huge fans of quality programming and content – but they are not fond of being told where, when and how they should watch it.”
Image courtesy of flickr user Merlijn Hoek.
