Podcast #1174: Video Trends

On this week’s show we discuss the Tivo Video Trends Report and we read your emails and and take a look at the week’s news.

News:

• Streamers bet on food partners to help reduce churn
• Samsung Reveals Its Reach: Free Streaming TV Service Is As Big as the Major Players
• A Growing Number of Cord Cutters Don’t Plan to Buy a New Streaming Device in 2024, Spelling Trouble for the Tech Giants

Other:

• 10 of the world's most expensive turntables | What Hi-Fi?

TiVo Video Trends Report

As we look at the content ecosystem in Q2 2024, consumers are noticeably scaling back their spend on content and as a result, the number of sources they utilize for video. In this iteration of the Video Trends Report, we continue to see respondents supplement their video bundle and save money by turning to ad-supported services. In fact, the ratio of SVOD consumers utilizing lower-cost, ad-supported tiers has increased across the board, while the share of consumers utilizing ad-free SVOD services has dropped almost 18% year-over-year.

Some key findings:

• 84.5% of respondents are prone to browsing before landing on a show or movie.
• 77.8% of all respondents noted that they are at least tolerant of ads.
• 63% of respondents noted reducing their entertainment spending.
• 61.7% of respondents noted using at least one AVOD/FAST service in Q2.
• 22% of Pay TV subscribers cut the cord then later resubscribed to traditional TV service.

Average number of video sources reverting back to 2022 levels

Q2 22/Q2 23/Q2 24

Average Total Services 9.9 10.9 9.1

Avg Paid Services 6.7 6.9 5.7

Avg Non-paid Services 3.2 4.0 3.4

Household income does have an impact on the number of sources used, but it does not appear to be as substantial of a driver as demographics like age or geography. At the low end of less than $20K you have about 10 sources for 2023 and 2024. Households with incomes of $200K or more saw an increase from 10 sources in 2023 to about 14 in 2024. 

Percentage of Respondents Who Watch on Each Device

Q2 22/Q2 23/Q2 24

TV 81.0% 78.9% 81.3%

Smartphone 50.6% 60.2% 51.8%

Tablet 29.2% 30.9% 25.3%

Computer 36.6% 37.3% 33.7%

When it comes to discovery methods, the percentage of those who find out about new TV shows or movies from commercials has declined 3% year-over-year. In comparison, word of mouth and recommendations from friends continue to remain the most commonly used method of discovery.

Top Methods of Discovery 

% of all respondents/YoY Change

Word of mouth / friends 50.1% +4.8%

Commercials or ads that run during other shows 40.6% -2.9%

Social media 39.7% +2.3%

Streaming apps / home screen / carousel ads 39.3% +5.9%

Suggestions in my pay-TV channel guide or menus 27.9% +1.0%

Print, outdoor and/or online banner advertisements 14.3% +6.9%

News articles or stories outside social media 9.7% -6.7%

Emails or newsletters from streaming services 9.6% -0.1%

Radio 7.8% +0.7%

Daily viewership is largely consistent; Importance of local news drops 5% YoY. Fifty Four percent think local content is somewhat or very important compared to 59% in Q2 2023. Twenty One percent of all time spent watching video is spent watching local content, compared to 22.6% in Q2 2023.

27% of car owners report watching video in the car. This is down 13% from last year.

Top Reasons for Watching Video In-Car

To pass the time while waiting in the car 49.6%

To keep children entertained 45.1%

To pass the time on long road trips 34.7%

To pass the time while commuting 31.6%

To pass the time while filling up at the gas station 26.8%

To watch something immediately/couldn’t wait to watch it later 20.0%

To pass the time while charging an electric vehicle 18.4%

SVOD churn declines as more respondents turn to ad-supported tiers. Eighty Four Percent utilize SVOD services. This is a slight decline from 88.0% this time last year.

SVOD Viewing Habits

TV 67.9%

Smartphone 12.5%

Computer 11.5%

Tablet 8.%

Transactional video on demand (TVOD) usage takes a hit in Q2 2024; Amazon remains firmly at the top. Forty Four percent use a TVOD service. This is down about 6% from 50.8% in Q2 2023, seemingly driven primarily by a decrease among pay-TV subscribers.

Number of TVOD purchases per year Q2 2022 9.1%,  Q2 2023 11.3%, Q2 2024 7.3%

Forty Six percent have not gone to the movie theater in over a year.  In fact, only 32.2% report that they’ll most likely see a new movie in the theater (down roughly 2% year-over-year), compared to 55.5% who would most likely wait to stream it.

Reasons respondents prefer to stream new releases at home

It costs us more than $30 to actually go to the movies 46.7%

It’s too much of a hassle to go to the movie theater 33.2%

You can’t pause the movie at the theater 30.7%

I have a great TV/sound system at home 29.6%

I have better snacks at home 26.1%

The movie theaters near me aren’t very good 15.6%

Movie theater seats are uncomfortable 15.1%

Other theatergoers are loud, rude, etc. 14.9%

You don’t have to sit through ads and previews at home 14.8%

I don’t want to get sick 10.9%

Sixty Seven percent of all free AVOD/FAST viewers noted watching some form of free live streaming TV or FAST channels, which in Q2 2024 accounts for roughly 51% the viewing time of all free AVOD/ FAST services. This has remained relatively flat year-over-year.

Top Free AVOD/FAST Services (Most popular to least popular)

• Tubi
• Pluto TV
• Roku Channel
• Freevee
• Samsung TV Plus
• Crackle
• Vudu
• Global TV
• Plex
• CBC Gem

Ad Tolerance by Service Type 

• Averse to ads (avoid watching ads during video)
• Tolerant of ads (don't mind watching ads sometimes)
• In favor of ads (I prefer to watch ads during video instead of paying)

Averse/Tolerant/In Favor

Pay TV 23.7% 63% 13.3%

SVOD (Ad-Supported) 17.0% 69.5% 13.6%

SVOD (Ad-free) 24.3% 64.2% 11.5%

Free AVOD/FAST 20.7% 65.1% 14.2%

VMVPD 26.8% 60.9% 12.3%

Social Video/UGC 22.1% 65.3% 12.6%

Free AVOD/FAST users report the excessive and repetitive nature of ads as top reasons for their ad-aversion.