New market research carried out by Frank N. Majid Associates for Stamford, CT-based ONE World Sports recommends pay-TV providers turn to sports content as preventive medicine for cord-cutting. Two of five (37 percent) of those surveyed who ¨cut the cord¨ on their pay-TV services during the past two years said sports channels are a reason they would consider returning.
Nine of 10 sports fans (88 percent) watch sports on TV sets, primarily (73 percent) from broadcast networks. Cable networks networks followed at 62 percent, then came general entertainment networks (60 percent).
That said, more sports fans are turning to the Internet to watch sports, ONE World highlights. Nearly 2 in 5 sports fans (37 percent) who responded to a survey said they ¨streamed¨ online sports ¨often.¨ Nearly three in five (57 percent) said they watch sports online overall.
Personal computers were the viewing device of choice, used by 37 percent of respondents. OTT video to TV sets followed at 26 percent, while one-quarter said they watched sports online on tablets and another quarter did so via smartphones.
“Sports remains the most DVR-proof form of video content,” commented Alexander “Sandy” Brown, ONE World Sports’ president and CEO. “The excitement, immediacy and community around sports contests demand live viewing, whether that viewing takes place via an antenna, or a pay-TV provider, or via a live web stream. Whatever the format, the findings support that people want to watch sports live, and on the best – typically largest and most crisp – available screen.”
The market data being collected regarding digital viewing of sports jibes with that across the television and digital video industries, Brown added. “Digital video providers, whether they’re targeting their services for OTT delivery or mobile devices, are actively seeking sports content to feed their new services and attract consumers.”
Video Cord-Cutting Survey Results
Turning to cord-cutting, survey results showed:
- Twenty-five percent of all broadband-only consumers cut their cords within the last two years – but more than half (51%) have been cord-cutters for more than five years, or “cord-nevers” who have not subscribed to pay-TV;
- Women are as likely as men to have cut the cord within the past two years, at 25% each;
- Millennials (Adults 18-34) make up the majority (52%) of cord cutters over the past two years. Most (58%) of all cord cutting Millennials have cut the cord within the past three years.
Surveying participants regarding the global sports content ONE World offers the researchers found:
- Among all females age 18-34, 16% said they are sports fans and 21% said they would watch a network like ONE World Sports;
- Among broadband-only females age 18-34, 15% said they are sports fans and 20% said they would watch a network like ONE World Sports;
- The portion of males age 18-34, overall and broadband-only, who identified themselves as sports fans as well as potential viewers of ONE World Sports, were roughly the same across the board, at approximately 28% apiece;Eighty percent of likely sports package cancelers said they would be less likely to cancel if ONE World Sports were added to their sports package;
- Nearly all (83%) said they are interested in four or more of the network’s programs;
- 49% of recent cord cutters said they would be attracted back to the cord to watch a network like ONE World Sports.
“Among the findings, it was particularly gratifying to see that ONE World Sports over-indexes sports in general as a lure back to pay-TV for recent cord-cutters,” Brown noted. “Since the majority of cord-cutters are Millennials, this response supports our view that younger Americans are not only increasingly multicultural, but are ready to embrace global TV content such as sports from around the world.”
