As consumer uptake of OTT video services continues, are they interested in a new kind of bundle that would allow them to search for content across multiple services, utilizing one engine and receiving one bill — which might even shave a few dollars off for multiple services?
Many are, according to “Going with the Flow: How to Captivate Video Streamers,” a just-released survey from The Diffusion Group (TDG), on behalf of CSG International. It polled nearly 2,000 consumers across the United States who regularly use streaming services to watch video, and respondents reported opinions about watching short- and long-form video content including movies, TV shows, sports and other content across devices and from multiple providers.
“Two-thirds of U.S. broadband households use a subscription video service like Netflix,” Michael Greeson, TDG co-founder and director of research, observes. “Forty percent of this segment subscribe to multiple streaming services, making them prime prospects for value-added services that deliver a new level of user engagement and blend multiple services into a single experience.”
Survey responses reportedly point to a significant interest in a new type of feature bundle, consistent with the recent market trend of incumbent pay TV providers working to integrate multiple streaming services into their service offering. Consumers are said to have expressed interest in a bundle that offers the ability to search for content across multiple services, use a single recommendation engine, receive multi-service discounts and have unified billing. The research shows 60 percent of streamers seeing value in having a single bill for all their streaming services.
“Consumers are building and bundling their video experience with multiple providers, opening an opportunity for incumbent pay TV providers to leverage their growing partner ecosystem to package both traditional and streamed services together to attract the multi-service streamers,” Brian Shepherd, president of broadband, cable and satellite business at CSG International, says. “CSG believes that pay TV providers are uniquely positioned to deliver the video bundle of the future, as they already have the network infrastructure, customer preference history, analytic insights and billing relationship to tie everything together in a way that delivers innovative new value to the market.”
Findings from the survey include:
• 80 percent of streamers subscribe to at least one streaming video service in addition to, or instead of, pay TV service from a cable, satellite or IPTV provider.
• 79 percent primarily stream video on their TV sets.
• Millenial streamers spend more than 50 percent of their time watching streaming video rather than traditional TV and see decreased value in their pay TV services because of their streaming choices.
• 72 percent of sports streamers cite sports as their most important streaming service.
• 20 percent of streamers plan to switch, downgrade or disconnect their pay TV services in the next six months.
• 48 percent of respondents say they would greatly value centralized search, recommendations, billing and discounts across all of their paid subscriptions, regardless of provider.
Streamers report watching more than 26 hours of television each week, with half of this time spent viewing subscription streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Streaming services with the highest subscription rates offer original content and sports content, according to the survey.
The research concludes that to align with these trends, the ability to offer new skinny bundles and OTT-like services will become increasingly important for pay TV providers.
