Findings from a new survey highlight the increasing prevalence of “show dumping,” as viewers are giving up on series they love because it became too difficult and/or costly to access them.
The findings are from a sponsored survey by TiVo of pay-TV and OTT service subscribers in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The results show that 37 percent of global viewers have stopped watching a show they previously enjoyed because it became too difficult to access the content. The shows most cited by respondents as the ones they had stopped watching are series that generally require a premium pay-TV package, are only available through paid OTT and/or are unavailable on OTT services that aggregate content.
Nevertheless, viewers do continue to consume significant hours of entertainment content daily. On average, respondents spend 4 hours each day watching or streaming video content and an additional 19 minutes per day searching for something to watch, with the U.S. average eclipsing the global average with more than 5 and half hours of viewing time per day.
The report also finds that cord-shaving continues to be more predominant than cord-cutting, with more consumers considering downgrading pay-TV packages as they are supplementing their services with subscription OTT and streaming media devices. On average, 11 percent of all global respondents say they are extremely likely to downgrade their service instead of canceling, while 8 percent say they are extremely likely to cancel their pay-TV service in the next six months. The results in the U.S. were significantly higher than the global average. In the U.S., 21 percent stated they are extremely likely to cord-shave and downgrade their pay-TV service, while only 13 percent are strongly considering cutting the cord altogether.
Resoundingly, consumers feel there is much room for improvement when it comes to search and discovery. Millennials, in particular, show the strongest desire for better discovery solutions. More than 47 percent of all respondents agree that for the amount they pay for video service(s), it should be easier to find what they want to watch. Also, 40 percent of viewers turn off the TV and/or device and disengage altogether when they can’t find something to watch.
“Shifts in viewer engagement, like show-dumping, impact the whole value chain, further challenging business models in a fragmented marketplace with many different viewing choices,” said Paul Stathacopoulos, the VP of strategy and strategic research at TiVo. “Unified discovery and seamless access to content removes some of these barriers for the consumer, improving engagement and resulting in real business benefits including higher content consumption, increased subscriber retention and improved service value, especially for the millennial generation.”
