Is it really that hard to believe that 55% of rural Americans are non-streamers? When you look at the age demographics from the most recent US Census Bureau on the rural population, one can see that 38% are over the age of fifty-five.
In our 2023 annual rural video consumer report, conducted by Pivot Groups’ research team, when broken down by age group, 28% of those over fifty-five do not have a traditional pay TV service and stream all their video content, and 15% who stream also have a complementary pay TV service. A whopping 55% of those over fifty-five still rely on cable, satellite, IPTV, or an antenna to deliver their television service.
A Tricky Roadmap for Video Operators
This data validates a challenge for committed video operators that have been successfully plotted out by many Innovative Systems MG-TV customers.
In recent reports, Innovative Systems customers had this to say:
“Scott Bostrom General Manager at RC Technologies in SD confirmed that their older customers were totally unaware of the change to streaming because they could use the same remote, and the look and feel of their MG-TV IPTV service was unchanged with the switch to MG-TV Live Streaming.”
After launching Innovative Systems IPTV over ten years ago, General Manager John Noah at NICP in IA says, “It made total sense to add MG-TV live streaming, eliminating the need to have two separate vendors.“
“Kyle RandIeman, VP of Marketing and Customer Operations at Star Communications in NC commented on how they did not have to retrain customers on the MG-TV Streaming because it provided them with a linear experience that they were already comfortable with.”
William Hyatt, Manager of TV & Customer Technology at OzarksGo in AR says, “For those OzarksGo customers who still want a traditional Cable/IPTV experience, the plan is to offer either the Innovative Systems IS-5041W STB or another Android box so customers can still use a traditional remote control.”
Video Systems Manager Matt Knegendorf at Baldwin LightStream in WI explains, “Our management team decided to cap the legacy cable system that has been in place since the early 1980s, and by using the multi-purpose IS-5041W STB we can convert our cable TV customers who still desire a traditional remote control and offer a video streaming service to customers who want to use their existing consumer devices.”
In conclusion, we are without a doubt at a crossroads in how to best deliver video services to consumers. The evidence clearly points to a solution that blends the best of both linear and streaming options to capture the diverse demographics of the video customers served in your territories. One thing is certain however, video is not going away, people are still watching.
Scott Meyer, Director of Marketing
Innovative Systems
Scott has been involved in marketing for over 35 years, for the past 16 years as Marketing Director for Innovative Systems, where he has been helping service providers promote and sell Innovative Systems solutions to their end users.
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