UK market for content on demand ‘near saturation point’
Nearly half (48 per cent) of the online population in the UK have used digital catch-up TV services in the last three months, with iPlayer, Youtube and TiVo proving the most popular.
Over 3,600 people were surveyed by YouGov for its content on demand study, with 33 per cent admitting using digital film services in the past three months.
LOVEFiLM (27 per cent), Sky Movies (19 per cent) and Netflix (12 per cent) were ranked the most popular, but only five per cent who are not already signed up said they will use digital film services over the next 12 months.
It was also discovered that just under a third (31 per cent) have used a digital music service in the past three months, with iTunes (47 per cent), YouTube (23 per cent), Spotify (13 per cent) and Amazon Cloud Player (five per cent) proving the most popular.
However, just four per cent not already using such services think they will begin to use content on-demand music services in the next 12 months
Shaun Austin, associate director for media consulting at YouGov, said: “Among converts there is clearly a huge appetite for content on-demand services in the UK. However, those who don’t currently access content have a limited interest in doing so in the future. Therefore, the focus for digital content providers needs to be on working out ways to get the most out of the existing current user base rather than expanding into new audiences.
“As newspaper paywalls have shown, this will not be easy. The popularity of YouTube and iPlayer show that the services that are used most are usually the services that are free. For providers looking to grow their businesses the challenge will be convincing current users that they offer services worth paying for and services like Spotify are currently leading the way in this area.”
The report suggests that young people are more likely to share files and download unauthorised content.