Research: ‘Peak TV’ still delivering an abundance of favourites
November 12, 2024
Despite the Hollywood strikes, the volume of shows produced during the ‘Peak TV’ years has left viewers with an embarrassment of riches.
Data from Hub’s annual Conquering Content study suggests expanded licensing is still providing viewers with a steady stream of new things to watch. Key findings from the research include:
Viewers may be noticing that fewer originals are being made. Across major services, the number of users who feel those streaming services produce more originals than others declined in 2024. This is the first time that number has gone down in the past few years.
However, viewers are noticing that there are more places to find shows than ever before. Consumers are noticing the impact that recent expanded studio content licensing deals are having on ways to watch. More than half (60 per cent) agree that they are seeing more shows available in places that differ from where they originally aired – a direct result of studios seeking more revenue by licensing their shows to other streamers and new FAST services.
Plus, viewers are more likely to say their new favourite shows are older shows that came out a while ago. An increasing majority (60 per cent) say that the new favourite show they recently discovered is actually an older show that has been on for several seasons, rather than a new show that just came out in 2024.
As a result, viewers are happier than ever with what they are watching. In fact, nearly 8 out of 10 (79 per cent) viewers agree that more of their TV time is spent watching TV shows they really like, up significantly from the pandemic days of 2020.
“More than ever, viewers are embracing favourite original shows that they may not have seen when they first came out,” says Jason Platt Zolov, Senior Consultant for Hub. “As studios continue to make these shows more broadly accessible, consumers will benefit as long as the streamers can help viewers find those shows with better recommendations and discovery tools.”
These findings are from Hub’s 2024 Conquering Content report, based on a survey conducted among 1,602 US consumers with broadband, age 16-74, who watch at least 1 hour of TV per week. Interviews were conducted in October 2024 and explored consumers’ favourite shows and how they find and discover that content.