TiVo’s latest Video Trends Report says only 16% of UK viewers know what they want to watch when they start browsing.
The latest update says this results in ‘habit browsing’ for the remaining 84% of viewers.
The report also found that the average number of services used by U.K. viewers has increased from 6.0 in Q2 2023 to 6.5 in Q2 2024. Furthermore, 61% of viewers say they switch between more than one app in a typical viewing session, increasing from 55% in Q2 2023, meaning less time enjoying entertainment they love, and more time spent browsing for the next show or movie.
“As streaming options multiply, viewers are facing continued frustration when it comes to finding something to watch, showing ongoing discontent with the difficulty of finding material that suits their personal preferences,” said Gabriel Cosgrave, general manager of EMEA at Xperi. “TV manufacturers need to prioritize key smart TV features such as aggregated and unbiased content offerings, and user experience features like hyper-personalisation and natural voice search so that consumers find content they love quickly.”
In line with the Xperi company’s proposition, the report adds that habit browsing is being driven by a lack of personalised recommendations. Nearly one-fifth of viewers (19%) say they struggle to find something to watch when they don’t have anything specific in mind and 18% admit to starting, stopping and selecting something else many times during a viewing session. The variety of options and content quality is also having a significant influence on consumer loyalty, as content providers battle for subscribers, with 34% of current streaming service users saying they want to cancel their subscription video on demand (SVOD) (eg Netflix, Prime Video) within the next six months.
The actual viewing time is still increasing with daily viewing time rising to 3.8 hours per day, increasing to 4.0 hours for respondents with children in their home and 4.2 hours for viewers in Scotland.
AVOD/FAST adoption is growing steadily: 43% of respondents use free AVOD/FAST services from the likes of FreeVee and Pluto TV), pointing to an increased desire for free content and a high ad tolerance across multiple devices (56% view on TV, 18% on a computer, 15% on a smartphone).
27% of U.K. consumers have started using a new service in the last six months, but 21% have cancelled a service during the same period, highlighting the competitive pressures facing service providers.
Over one-third of respondents watch social video content on a TV at least several times a week, an increase of almost 9% since spring 2023 – showing the continued appeal of social video content on a larger screen.
