The TV set still king for Americans

Despite the rise of mobile video consumption, the TV set is still the preferred viewing destination of choice for Americans.

According to a new report from Parks Associates, US broadband households spend nearly 20 hours per week watching video on a TV on average. This is compared to nearly four hours on smartphones.

The report also found that the total amount of time spent watching video increased by 33% between 2018-19.

However, while the TV is top, young people are overwhelmingly turning to computers. People aged 18-24 watch approximately 16 hours of video per week on a computer, equal to TV sets.

Elsewhere, the report finds that OTT subscriptions have plateaued at 71% of broadband households, with no significant year-over-year change.

Commenting on the report, Steve Nason, senior analyst at Parks Associates said: “Understanding consumers is key to driving acquisition and minimizing churn among video services. Different demographics show markedly different attitudes and preferences. NPS scores for Netflix are higher among women, while NPS scores for premium OTT services such as Starz, Showtime, and HBO Now are higher among men.

“Younger video consumers represent the future of the industry, but their programming and platform preferences are distinct from older segments, which puts traditional pay-TV providers in a difficult position. Changing the traditional pay-TV service model could alienate older, high-ARPU customers, but not changing could doom future prospects.”

This new report shows the US is contrary to the global habits towards mobile video consumption. According to a 2019 report from Brightcove, a total of 53% of video worldwide is being consumed on mobile, with the highest concentration being in emerging markets – 84% for APAC, 57% for MENA.