About two-thirds of U.S. adult broadband users have subscriptions to video-on-demand (SVOD) on a home television. Streaming movies and TV programs via the Internet to their TV screens isn’t the only thing that distinguishes home SVOD subscribers from the larger population of U.S. adult broadband users, however, The Diffusion Group (TDG) explains in new market research.
For one thing, SVOD-TV subscribers, or TV Streaming Subscribers (TSSs) as TDG dubs them, tend to be younger than the average age of adult broadband users as a whole: 44 percent are under 34. They also tend to be more tech-savvy and show more of an inclination to adopt new technologies and media services, TDG highlights. In addition:
- When watching television, one-fourth of TSSs turn first to SVOD services, and spend on average 41% of their weekly TV time watching streaming video of some kind (SVOD is dominant, of course, but use of TVOD and AVOD on TV is also prominent).
- SVOD viewing among TSSs is not limited to TVs, with 79% using SVOD services on PCs, 46% on tablets, and 59% on smartphones.
As significant as these insights may be, the most important findings revealed in TDG’s new study revolve around the variations among mutually exclusive sub-segments of the U.S. population of SVOD-TV subscribers. TDG used a variety of statistical methods and techniques, such as cluster and factor analysis, to identify and zero in on them.
TDG wound up isolating four sub-segments of U.S. adult broadband SVOD-TV subscriber base that appeared to be mutually exclusive, i.e. they did not overlap. Each accounted for a different proportion of U.S. SVOD-TV streamers. Defined by very distinct “demographic, techno-graphic and psychographic profiles,” the market researcher goes on to identify and provide summary descriptions of them:
- Pay-TV Supplementers – Defined by their affinity toward traditional pay-TV services, Supplementers use SVOD to complement their TV viewing, not as a substitute or replacement. Live broadcast remains their first choice for TV viewing, and they spend most of their TV time watching such programming.
- Pay-TV Substituters – Undoubtedly a thorn in the side of legacy operators, Substituters are distinguished by their aversion toward traditional pay-TV services and their affinity towards SVOD as their primary video source (accounting for two-thirds of their total video time). They watch SVOD services on their PCs and smartphones, as well, but spend the most time watching them on their TVs.
- Quantum Viewers – The youngest of the four TSS segments, QVs are characterized by their proclivity to watch SVOD on all their devices, not just TVs. While they are more likely than other segments to use virtually all types of consumer electronic and computing devices (especially Apple products), they are no more likely than TSSs in general to be ‘anti-pay-TV.’ In fact, they appreciate all forms of video on all their screens.
- Video Luddites – Yes, even among TV SVOD users there is a ‘laggard’ segment, in this case distinguished by the fact they spend the least amount of time watching all types of video on all types of devices. Luddites nonetheless consider online video services as their key source of entertainment.
