Streaming is the new normal for Millennials, according to the State of Cable & Digital Media 2016 report from Horowitz Research.
Millennial (18-34 year-old) TV content viewers report spending 54% of their TV viewing time streaming and just 25% live. Across total TV content viewers 18+, the picture is flipped: 50% of viewing is live and 29% is streamed.
The Horowitz study, conducted annually, has been tracking the rapid shift from traditional (live, PVR, and VOD) to streaming. Since 2012, the weekly share of viewing that is streamed has risen from 15% in 2012 to 54% in 2016, while traditional viewing has dropped from 75% to 39% among Millennials (view chart).
The study also reveals that Millennials are more likely to turn to Netflix when they want to watch TV than to live television: 36% say Netflix is their first “go-to” source for TV content; 29% say they go to live TV (view chart). Although streaming has increased substantially over the past few years, traditional television continues to have value. Three-quarters (76%) of 18-34 year-olds use a combination of traditional and streamed content; just 13% use streaming exclusively.
Stephanie Wong, Horowitz’s director of marketing and strategy, notes, “It’s an exciting time to be in the video industry. Established MVPDs like Comcast and new players like Layer3 alike are seeking to improve the value proposition of pay TV and reinvent the traditional TV experience with features like voice control, social media integration, and a more seamless cross-platform viewing experience. Whether these features will be enough to keep Millennials with traditional distributors is the next big question.”
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