Report: Convenience Driving OnLine Video Viewing

Although most consumers continue to watch original TV series on traditional TV, many are time-shifting their TV viewing, and this desire to watch on their own schedule is one of the primary drivers of online video viewing, according to a report from marketingcharts.com.  That’s one of the chief takeaways from a new comScore report based on a survey of more than 1,100 online adults.

It’s not earth-shattering to say that there’s less appointment viewing these days, though social TV is helping offset the declines. The rise of time-shifting has led to TV industry stakeholders pushing for an expanded TV ratings definition for quite some time (here’s the argument for expanding from C+3 to C+7), and the results in the comScore study bolster that argument. While the report doesn’t specify how time-shifted TV is viewed, some 46% of original TV viewing by Millennials (18-34) is estimated to be time-shifted, including 17% at least 4 days after airing.

While time-shifting isn’t quite as prevalent among older age groups, there is one segment that is delaying viewing to the same degree as Millennials: paid digital video subscribers. An estimated 46% of original TV viewing by these subscribers occurs after live airing, including 16% at least 4 days after airing.

As for that subscriber segment? It’s not small. More than 4 in 10 respondents reported subscribing to a paid digital video service, with Netflix (32%) unsurprisingly being most popular. As expected, those figures are much higher among Millennials: 61% subscribe to a paid service, including 49% to Netflix.

Clearly, paid service subscribers enjoy watching TV on their own schedules – and research does indeed indicate that they’re motivated by convenience. But they’re not the only ones. When survey respondents were asked the main reasons why they watch original TV on the internet, the two leading reasons, by a strong margin, were:

• Prefer to watch on own schedule (56%)
• It’s more convenient (52%).
• Ads do play a role, but it’s a lesser one: 38% watch because they can skip commercials, and 33% because there are fewer commercials.

The rise in time-shifting TV viewing – and increasing time spent watching online video – are clear indications that consumers’ preferences are changing.

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