Streaming is closing the gap on linear TV with a gap of just two percentage points in terms of weekly consumption, according to the annual Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Media Report.
The survey found 75% of consumers watching streamed content several times a week, compared to 77% who watch scheduled broadcast TV programming several times a week.
Other surveys have continued to show the dominance of linear TV over streamed competitors.
Ericson found an increase of 25% over two years in the number of consumers prepared to pay for access to content on any device – typically pay-TV operators will bundle in a certain number of devices and levy an additional fee for those who want to increase the number of devices that content can be viewed on.
Binge viewing of multiple episodes of a favourite show in a single sitting is also on the increase. DVR functionality is also helping to continue the trend binging, which began with the advent of boxed sets of TV series and movie sequels.
The results are based on interviews with over 23,000 people in 23 different countries. As to be expected Ericsson has homed in on areas of interest to its technology excellence in television delivery. It will come as no surprise that Breaking Bad and House of Cards are given as examples of viewing choices.
Niklas Heyman Rönnblom, senior advisor at Ericsson ConsumerLab says: “Our research shows that 56% of those who pay for subscription-based video on demand services prefer all episodes of a TV series to be available at once, so they can watch at their own pace, compared with 45% for those who don’t pay for S-VOD. This shows the impact that such services have on consumer viewing behavior and requirements.
The research also found 43% saying that Ultra High Definition (UHD) was important to them.
