On November 12, the Walt Disney Company launched their long-awaited video streaming platform, Disney+…surprising no one. Disney is, after all, just one name on a long list of media production outlets to jump into the stream of on-demand media. CBS All Access, Apple TV, and Comcast’s Peacock (set to launch next year with 15,000 hours of programming) are signs of an industrial shift. By 2020, 1 in 5 Americans will have “cut the cord” on cable. Companies are scrambling to stay with the pack as video streaming services become the new normal for consumers.
In March 2019, a report from the Motion Picture Association of America noted that video streaming subscriptions surpassed cable television for the first time in 2019, with a 27 percent jump from 2017. As the market continues to lean into video streaming, the trends surrounding its adoption and satisfaction are becoming increasingly relevant for device makers, video content producers, telecommunications companies, and anyone who wants to take even a small slice out of this growing pie. So what does the research show?
These highlights from the November 2019 report by the Centercode Research Team reveal details about consumer attitudes, current satisfaction rates, and the growing adoption of video streaming services.
1) Video streaming is by far the most popular type of subscription service overall
With 8 out of 10 consumers subscribing to one or more video streaming services, the popularity of these subscriptions shouldn’t come as a surprise. Among video streaming subscribers, most consumers have access to 3 or more services, with Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu in the top spots for popularity. These three platforms also boast the highest rate of customer satisfaction. Netflix holds the crown with nearly half of its subscribers rating their satisfaction at a 5 out of 5.
2) Streaming quality is the #1 concern among subscribers
Consumers care about the seamlessness and functionality of nearly every feature, but streaming quality stands out as their top priority. 97% of subscribers rank it as “important” or “very important.”
Differentiators like up-to-date content and the volume of available content aren’t far behind, with almost 95% of consumers reporting that these are high on their list of considerations.
3) Consumers plan on subscribing to more video streaming services in the future
Surprisingly, while consumers report that they currently subscribed to “just the right number” of services, they are also open to adding more subscriptions to the roster. More than half of current video subscription services holders say they plan to subscribe to an additional video service in the future.
Get more insights into the attitudes of video subscription services subscribers and which platforms they plan to purchase by reading the full report.
