Roku study evidences strong hunger for AVOD streaming – including the ads

Tipping point

• Far from being a flash in the pan, Roku are confident that streaming is here to stay, having passed a ‘tipping point’ of acceptance from everyone from boomers to gen Z.

• Among all age brackets, gen Z are most likely to stream (98%), followed by millennials (95%), gen X (88%) and boomers (71%).

• Propelled by the pandemic, streaming is perceived to offer the best content and value, eroding the appeal of traditional primetime TV in the process.

• This shift has been fueled by word of mouth, with 66% of audiences choosing streaming when they want to watch something everyone is talking about, versus just 22% for traditional pay-TV.

• These trends look to be here to stay, with more than half of consumers adamant that they will continue to binge watch TV even after lockdown restrictions ease.

Content is king

• Increasingly adoption is being driven by live sports and news as well as movies – not just drama – as traditional TV holdouts give way to the new kid on the block.

• 42% now watch their sports via streaming, fast catching up with the 62% who watch via traditional pay-TV, while 61% of people without traditional pay-TV watch live news via streaming multiple times per week.

• It is a similar picture for blockbuster movie releases, with 73% of consumers citing access to a new movie release as a deciding factor in selecting a streaming provider.

Rise of AVOD

• Advertising video on demand (AVOD) has made TV streaming accessible to a greater proportion of the population as consumers prioritize choice over distractions.

• Some seven in 10 of those surveyed were willing to pay for an AVOD service if it resulted in a lower monthly cost, while over eight in 10 said the offer of free and paid subscription tiers was crucial in swaying their decision.

• Surprisingly, 37% of AVOD viewers do so because they don’t mind adverts, with a quarter of respondents adding at least one new paid subscription service to their viewing rotation in the past year.

• This contradicts recent research suggesting that the US appetite for AVOD services had slumped.

• Busting the myth of streaming churn, Roku believes that subscription cycling is overhyped, with 41% stating that they have no firm intention to cancel a service when signing on.

• Over the past year, just one in four people cycled a subscription versus nearly three in five who have never subscription-cycled.

Methodology

• Conducted between July 24-30 by the National Research Group, on behalf of Roku, the annual report draws on the online responses of 2,852 American 18-70-year-olds who consume a minimum of five hours of TV per week.