The number of US households with a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service has now reached 74%, continuing its steady rise from 69% last year, 64% in 2017 and 59% in 2016. Also on the rise, according to the latest annual survey on the topic from Leichtman Research Group (LRG), is the number of households that have more than one SVOD service.
Indeed, 7 in 10 (69%) of the more than 1,100 households surveyed for LRG report say they subscribe to more than one SVOD service such as Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu. Added to that, some subscribers are sharing their passwords outside their households. More than one-quarter (27%) of Netflix subscribers say they shared their subscription with others outside their household. This issue seems to be more prevalent among Netflix subscribers: fewer subscribers of Hulu (19%) and Amazon Prime (10%) share their login with others outside their household.
Prior research shows that Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu dominate SVOD viewing. Comscore data shows that the majority share (79%) of time spent viewing OTT content is spent with these three subscription services and YouTube. More viewers are choosing to watch their favorite television shows on Netflix instead of traditional TV, while viewers are also more likely to choose to keep Netflix than other networks or viewing sources. Additionally, Amazon Prime subscriptions in the US are estimated to have exceeded 100 million this year.
Viewing Frequency on the Rise
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of adults watch an SVOD service on a monthly basis, with some two-fifths (41%) streaming more than one SVOD service at least monthly. Furthermore, the daily consumption of SVOD continues to increase. In 2019, one-third (33%) of adults report that they stream an SVOD service daily. That’s up from 30% in 2018 and 29% in 2017, and is double the figure (16%) from 2015.
While SVOD remains most popular among younger audiences, with half (51%) of 18-34-year-olds watching SVOD services on a daily basis, more older adults are gravitating towards SVOD content. About one-third (34%) of 35-54-year-olds (up from 31% in 2018) and 15% of adults ages 55 and up (up from 11% in 2018) now watch their SVOD services daily. A survey from Deloitte has also found that more adult viewers in the US, across all age groups, subscribe to an SVOD service than to pay-TV, though there is conflicting data on that point.
Viewing on Non-TV Devices Grows
Previous research indicated that a slight majority of SVOD services are viewed through internet-connected TV. However, viewers also use other devices such as smartphones and computers to watch their favorite content. LRG’s survey reveals that 51% of US adults are watching SVOD services on non-TV devices, with this representing continued growth from 46% in 2018 and 43% in 2017.
About the Data: “Emerging Video Services 2019 is based on a survey of 1,116 adults age 18+ throughout the continental U.S. The random sample of respondents was distributed and weighted to best reflect the demographic and geographic make-up of the U.S. The telephone survey (including landline and cell phone calls) was conducted in June 2019. The overall sample has a statistical margin of error of +/- 2.9%.”
