Audio Video News

The trend in content discovery is learning about new TV shows and movies through suggestions offered by a channel guide or other menus, advertising on streaming or online video services, and browsing apps; each of these methods has increased 2 or 3% since the end of 2020. Traditional avenues of discovery — commercials played during TV shows, word of mouth recommendations, social media advertising, etc. — still account for the majority of content discovery but have a diminishing impact with each passing year.

Recommendations from cable/satellite services and subscription streaming services, in particular, hold a fair amount of sway, compelling viewers to watch the recommended show or movie 40% of the time. On the flip side, 40% of survey participants ignore content suggestions, though nearly two-thirds say they would be interested in a service that recommends the next episode of a show they have been watching (as Roku does) and half in a service that helps them find shows and movies they can watch for free even if it has ads.

Regardless of how maddening it can be to navigate through multiple video services, viewers are still watching lots of TV. Almost two-thirds (64%) of cable/satellite devotees watch more than three hours of video a day, and the daily average jumps to more than four hours across all pay-TV viewers. In either case, local content is an absolute must for pay-TV subscribers — 86% consider local programming important compared with 65% for broadband-only viewers.

Meanwhile, the number of content sources in a typical household continues to rise. Since the end of 2020, the average number of services increased from seven to nine; of those, five were paid services and four were free. In the 18 to 30 age group, the number of services jumped to eleven, while respondents 51 or older reported using around five services.

Media Players & TV On the Go
Despite the notable increase in smart TV ownership in recent years, the media player is still a popular way to stream video on a TV with around 41% of survey participants using one to access services such as Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu; more than half (53%) of those who own a streamer cite the ability to watch subscription-based video as the most important factor in their decision to get a media player.

Survey respondents, however, made it clear they are not married to the streamer they currently own but were split when asked when they might upgrade to another player or streaming option: 38% said they don’t know, 20% said within three months, 17% within six months, 9% within a year, and 16% more than a year from now. The time it takes to find a TV show or movie to watch on a media player, which is longer than on a pay-TV set-top box or smartphone, leaves room for improvement and is a key reason why upwards of half (46%) of those surveyed plan to upgrade or switch to a different streamer in the next year.

In terms of media player ownership, Amazon and Roku are neck and neck with 30% of those surveyed owning an Amazon Fire TV/Cube/Stick and 29% owning a Roku device. Apple TV came in at 21%, followed by Chromecast at 18%; 12% fall into the “other” category, which includes Android, TiVo Stream 4K, and Nvidia Shield.

In the “we don’t need a survey to tell us this” category, we tend to watch videos (long and short) on our smartphones as a way to kill time whenever we have a spare moment: 42% of survey participants say they do so in their cars, 40% at a friend or family member’s home, 35% in waiting rooms, 35% in hotels, 32% at work, 27% on public transportation, 25% in airports, and 24% in restaurants. No question, as a society, we are obsessed with video (and that’s not always a good thing).

Here are a few other noteworthy findings of the TiVo survey:

• Big-screen TVs are far and away the top choice for watching TV via cable/satellite or streaming, followed by smartphones as a distant second. Computers (laptop or desktop) came in third, registering between 6% and 14%, depending on the type of video service.

• 90% of viewers surveyed admit to multitasking on their smartphone (60%) or tablet (30%) even while watching movies and other long-form content.

• Smart TV ownership is increasing with 71% of respondents owning one, an 11% increase over Q4 2020.

• Samsung is the top smart TV brand (43%) followed distantly by LG (19%), Sony (8%), and the Chinese brands Vizio (6%), Hisense (5%), and TCL (4%). The balance shifts among those who are actively planning to buy a smart TV with Samsung at 35% and LG at 16%.

• Amazon Prime is the top source (65%) for renting or purchasing videos, followed by YouTube (30%).

Though the future of movie theaters remains uncertain in the wake of the pandemic, 58% of those surveyed are willing to pay to watch new Hollywood releases at home as they did during the height of the pandemic and 64% said they are interested in watching new releases at home after the pandemic is over.

TiVo has conducted the Video Trends survey quarterly or biannually since 2012 to “monitor, track, and identify key trends in viewing habits.” The Q2 2021 study was carried out between April and June in the U.S. and Canada. Survey size was 4,500 and respondents were 18+ years old.