The impact of non-linear TV viewing: perception and reality yet to align
The perceived importance of online as a main form of TV viewing in the home is at game-changing levels with more than 40% of homes in the US now feel that online is the main way they watch TV and film content and nearly one in five (17%) agree strongly with the notion. European countries are some way behind, but across Europe, more than 20% of homes say this is their main way of viewing with more than 10% agreeing strongly with the idea.
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Scandinavians are the most advanced Europeans in terms of using online as a main form of viewing with a third of homes in Sweden and Denmark saying it’s their main source of TV and movies and 12% agreeing strongly.
The proportion of homes that use online as a main form of viewing has grown strongly in the past year, with the main driver being access to SVoD services. The US, Sweden, France and Spain have seen particularly strong increases up more than five percentage points.
Homes that use online as a main form of viewing show average uptake of both free and pay TV, but significantly higher than average uptake of SVoD services and premium music streaming services, suggesting that the whole home entertainment environment is shifting to streaming in these households. More than half of homes who engage mainly with online for viewing are Millennials.
The device environment is also noticeably geared towards connected viewing in online TV homes with heavy skews towards Apple devices and games consoles and towards operating systems such as Chrome, Fire and iOS.
The difference between the higher percentage of respondents who ‘agree’ they mainly watch online and those ‘agreeing strongly’ is down to perception, particularly as viewers generally under-estimate the time they spend watching traditional linear TV. Yet the fact that more than 40% of US home ‘think’ they mainly watch via online platforms is in itself indicative of the huge impact non-linear viewing is having on the wider TV landscape. Linear TV is not dead, that is for certain, but it’s taking a bit of the beating.
The above is written by Guy Bisson of Ampere Analysis.