The changes in viewing habits seen in the most mature TV markets are to a large degree also taking place in Central and Eastern Europe.
Take the case of Poland, which seems to be one of the most studied countries in the region at present. Just this week we have covered the findings of a report by PwC that looked in some detail at video usage and preferences. Perhaps not surprisingly, well over half (62%) of respondents chose to watch video content on mobile devices. Furthermore, binge viewing is now also a reality, with over a third (36%) saying they watch whole series if they are available on the internet.
What was particularly interesting was the usage of online video services. While YouTube was clearly the favourite, Netflix, though now present in the country for over a year and localising content, was only placed 16th.
There was also a strong interest in being able to build one’s own TV channel offer and pay for it, or indeed even individual channels. This is almost certainly felt in most other markets and it can even be argued that the days of large, non-selected channel offerings are numbered.
By way of comparison, the findings of Deloitte’s 11th Digital Democracy Study, focused on the US, the world’s most mature TV market, were also published this week. One of the main conclusions was that binge viewing is now not only firmly established in the country but the norm, being undertaken by 73% of consumers as a whole and nearly 90% of millennials. Furthermore, it found that multitasking while watching the TV is also the norm among some demographics, being undertaken by almost all (98%) of millennials and Generation Z (usually classified as those born from 1995 onwards) viewers.
The Deloitte study paid particular attention to the importance of social media to today’s consumers, something that is of course also the case in Central and Eastern Europe. One surprising finding, and one that will worry the industry, was that almost half of millennials now use ad blockers. Furthermore, they are increasingly doing so on their smartphones, something that was not the case even one or two years ago.
