Advanced Television

Online TV creates content discovery challenges

December 12, 2014

Findings from Hub Entertainment Research have uncovered two side effects of the exponential growth of online TV content: consumers who are both more choosy and more in need of guidance.

The firm’s research shows that while TV consumers appreciate the greater content choice offered by online viewing options, they also have a strong need for tools to make all of that content easier to use.

According to the 2014 wave of Conquering Content, Hub’s annual study on how consumers find and choose new TV shows—adoption of online TV sources continues to climb. Eighty-three per cent say that they use at least one online TV source, up from 77 per cent in November 2013.

The growth in TV options makes consumers more selective about what they watch:

  • 81 per cent say that thanks to new TV options, more of their viewing time is spent on TV shows they “really like” than was the case in the past.

  • Only 13 per cent “graze”—try new shows that look even a little interesting—vs. 29 per cent who say they only try a new show if they’re sure they’ll like it.

This combination of near-unlimited choice and greater selectivity leads to a significant unmet need: an easier way to discover shows across platforms. And consumers make it clear that providers that can offer this capability will gain share:

  • 60 per cent agree they “need a universal listing that lets them find shows across all TV sources,” vs. only 9 per cent who disagree.

  • 48 per cent say they are more likely to choose sources that make discovery of new shows easy, vs. only 9 per cent who aren’t.

In fact, there’s evidence that online content is a critical part of the discovery process for shows on live TV:

  • 61 per cent of viewers—and 72 per cent of Millennials—say that they have watched a show on live TV that they first discovered and watched online.

  • This is even more common among subscribers to Netflix (68 per cent) and Hulu Plus (73 per cent).

“The bottom line is that consumers are now realizing both the benefits and the challenges that come with massive amounts of content available instantly,” says Jon Giegengack, co-author of the study. “Even the choosiest consumer can find more of their favourite types of content than they have time to consume. But almost unlimited catalogues mean that viewers need, and increasingly expect, tools to make discovering shows they’ll love a manageable task.”

“Changes in how consumers watch TV mean that the discovery process is more important than ever,” says Peter Fondulas of Hub. “Given that 80 per cent of consumers binge view at least some of the time, each viewing decision has the potential to dictate a much greater share of viewing time than the next 30 or 60 minutes.”

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, IPG, Middleware, Research, Search/Recommendation