Analyst: US lockdown fuels on-demand surge
May 14, 2020
According to new research from actionable intelligence provider The Diffusion Group (TDG), six in ten US adult broadband users who use pay-TV on-demand services have increased viewing as a result of Covid-19-related stay-at-home directives, with 19 per cent reporting a significant increase.
“Much has been written about recent spikes in the use of on-demand streaming video services such as Netflix and Disney+, and for good reason,” notes Michael Greeson, TDG president and principal analyst. “Our findings clearly demonstrate that, being largely confined to their homes, consumers see tremendous value in having access to on-demand shows and movies. And this holds true for all such services, including those offered by pay-TV providers.”
According to TDG, 77 per cent of adult broadband users that subscribe to a pay-TV service watch shows and movies via the service’s on-demand feature; of those, 60 per cent report spending more time watching on-demand programming as a consequence of having to stay at home as a result of local, state, or national directives related to Covid-19.
TDG also found that:
- On-demand viewers under the age of 45 were almost twice as likely as those 45 and older to have significantly increased on-demand use (23 per cent vs. 13 per cent respectively);
- 21 per cent of those using virtual pay-TV on-demand report significant increases in viewing, a bit higher than their cable and fibre pay-TV counterparts at 19 per cent. Satellite on-demand viewers lag in this respect, with only 13 per cent reporting significant increases;
- 23 per cent of pay-TV on-demand users in the Western US report a significant increase in use, compared with 19 per cent of those in the Northeast, 18 per cent of those in the South, and 16 per cent of those in the Midwest; and
- Female pay-TV on-demand viewers were as likely as their male counterparts to have significantly increased on-demand viewing under stay-at-home directives.