Younger Viewers: Too Many Streaming Services Exist

Younger viewers think they’re paying too much for streaming services — but they’re still willing to sign up if they want to watch a particular show.

That could be good news for the Walt Disney Co., which earlier this month said it would launch ESPN- and Disney-branded streaming services, pulling some of its own programs from Netflix. This move “ultimately gives us much greater control of our own destiny,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said during a third-quarter earnings call.

According to a recent Morning Consult poll, 36 percent of the key 18- to 29-year-old demographic said they were likely to subscribe to the new Disney streaming service, which would feature new releases such as “Toy Story 4” and the sequel to “Frozen,” along with a library of older Disney films. That compares to 23 percent of the population as a whole.

Of those youngest respondents who would subscribe to the Disney service, more than half (58 percent) said they would use it in addition to other streaming options, versus 34 percent of millennials who said it would replace another service.

Overall, 55 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they were willing to subscribe to a streaming service to watch a particular show and also praised the ability to watch their preferred shows and movies. But millennials also expressed frustration with the proliferation of streaming services, which include Netflix and CBS All Access.

More than half (57 percent) of millennials said they agreed with the statement that there are too many streaming services, and 73 percent of them said they wished all of the shows they wanted to see were available on a single service.