Nielsen: Half Of Americans Now Have Access To Subscription-Based VOD
Subscription-based video-on-demand services have reached a milestone, according to Nielsen’s first-quarter 2016 Total Audience Report.
Subscription-based video-on-demand (SVOD) services, such as Netflix and Hulu, have reached a milestone: U.S. penetration has caught up to DVR penetration for the first time, according to Nielsen’s first-quarter 2016 Total Audience Report.
The findings demonstrate that viewers want to control what they watch and when they watch it. That often means more playback options are better, Nielsen said. In fact, close to 30% of homes have both DVR and access to SVOD—up nearly 20% from last year.
“New devices and services are creating new consumer media choices,” said Glenn Enoch, SVP of audience insights at Nielsen. “It is critical for the industry—marketers, advertisers, and media owners—to know these trends in viewing and listening behavior in order to plan effectively.”
According to the report, the heaviest users of digital devices accounted for a vast majority of each device’s or platform’s overall usage. In fact, 83% of smartphone video viewing, 87% of in-home PC streaming, and 71% of TV-connected device usage came from the top 20% of users.
The report also broke down usage by ethnicity and race. For Hispanics, the top 20% of users accounted for 92% of smartphone video viewing. Asian-Americans came in second with 89%, and African-Americans followed close behind at 88%.
The story was a bit different for television and radio among the top 20%. According to Nielsen, their distributions were more balanced, with the heaviest TV and radio users accounting for around 50% of total usage each.
Radio and television still held the title for monthly reach, with radio attracting 240 million adult users and live and DVR/time-shifted TV attracting 226 million.
People are also spending more time with with their tablets and smartphones. Media consumption on these devices increased 63% and 60%, respectively, in the past year. Tablet usage was up 12 minutes, while smartphone usage increased 37 minutes.