The television landscape has changed in more ways than one over the years.
TV’s still the linchpin of almost every living room, but the days when families gathered around a central TV to watch together aren’t as common as they once were. The rise of tablets, smartphones and PCs where you can leverage features like multi-screen functionality while streaming from online video sites such as Netflix and Hulu have given consumers total control of TV consumption.
According to this report from comScore, technology advances have driven the change especially for Millennials (18-34 year olds). Here are some key findings from the report.
- Millennials spend one-third of their original-TV-series consumption time watching on digital platforms, with computers driving the majority of that activity.
- Younger viewers are more likely to shift their TV viewing time and watch a show after it appears live.
- Millennials are also significantly more likely to watch TV from an internet-connected TV device (e.g. Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast) as well as via a gaming console (e.g. Xbox, PlayStation, etc.) or Blu-Ray Player.
- Millennials are significantly more likely than their older counterparts to not subscribe to cable or other pay-TV services.
To make this even more interesting, HBO and CBS both recently announced that they are launching an online service allowing you to access their exclusive content without having to go through cable service providers. This is the key differentiator from their HBO GO service, as it still requires you to have an account with a cable service provider. This will be a great way to expose audiences to some of HBO’s exclusive content such as Game of Thrones or Girls, attracting new audiences without the roadblock of requiring a subscription.
About 4 in 10 households subscribe to a paid digital video subscription service, with Netflix being the leader.
With HBO joining the likes of Netflix and Hulu as a “barrier-free” service and those two services along with Amazon Prime having entered the fray of exclusive content (like HBO), the video streaming wars are about to enter another level.
Other premium networks (e.g. Showtime, Starz etc.) have to be watching with great interest. Will they make similar moves or continue to stick with their current strategy?
Yes, the TV landscape is very different now. With more channels, wider accessibility and some amazing content, it’s a great time to be a fan of entertainment.
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