From TV Screen to Stream Screen: streamed on-demand content increased its share of total viewing time

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) launched the seventh edition of its annual ConsumerLab TV & Media Report, which details the enormous and rapid shift in TV and video viewing behavior towards mobility. The report also shows that while both mobile video and on-demand TV viewing have soared over the past seven years, content discovery remains a huge frustration for consumers.

Continued shift to mobile:

In South Korea, weekly share of total viewing hours on mobile screens such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, have grown continuously. The velocity of the change has potentially slowed a fraction, but it clearly suggests that the proportion of viewing on fixed vs. mobile screens – which was 70:30 in 2013, is now 60:40 and will continue shifting.

• Weekly share of time spent watching TV and video on mobile devices has grown by 28 percent (2013-2016); on fixed screens it has gone down by 12 percent over the same period.
• Consumers’ mobile viewing habits thrive with the perception of unlimited video streaming. 26% of consumers in South Korea are interested in a mobile data plan that includes unrestricted video streaming.
• The 2nd screen behavior continue to evolve in browsing the internet for related content. 65 percent of consumers in South Korea use the second screen every week to complement the content on the big TV screen.

Content discovery – how hard can it be?

A major issue, highlighted by the report, is low consumer satisfaction when trying to find something to watch. In South Korea, even though both scheduled linear TV and VOD have the same time spent searching for content (25 minutes), the share of the total time differs between the two types of viewing.  Broadcast TV users spend 20 percent of their sessions searching for content, while on-demand users spend 35 percent of their sessions searching. Nevertheless, 40 percent of South Korean consumers say they can’t find anything to watch on linear TV on a daily basis, in contrast, only 23 percent say the same thing for VOD services.

Paradoxically, 36 percent of consumers claim that they are very satisfied with content discovery when it comes to their VOD service, while only 24 percent say the same for linear TV. The findings suggest that althoughthe VOD discovery process is comparatively more time consuming than with linear broadcast TV, consumers rate it as less frustrating, as it implicitly promises the opportunity to find something they want to watch, when they want to watch it.

Cathaya Xu, Head of ConsumerLab RNEA, says: “Content discovery is becoming an important factor that impact viewers overall video experience. Poor discovery services ‘hides’ content, partially wasting content rights investments. The recommendations a consumer gets should not be dependent on the type of content, great recommendations need to be based on the individual consumer and their mood.”

Popularity of on-demand services soars:

The portion of the total viewing hours for streamed on-demand content – such as streamed TV series, movies, other TV programs and short video clips (like YouTube) – has increased by 43 percent since 2013. Strong indicators of this growing engagement and satisfaction with VOD services include:

• Consumers continue to embrace binge watching; 35 percent in South Korea watch two or more episodes of the same show in a row on a weekly basis, more than 10 percent say they do this daily
• Consumer spending on VOD services in South Korea has increased by over 30 percent since 2012, it now accounts for about 13 percent of the average household media spending.
• 36 percent of respondents in South Korea say they watch YouTube daily; for people aged 16-19, more than half of them watch YouTube on daily basis.

Zeynep Ahmed, Senior Advisor, Ericsson ConsumerLab, says: “Based on our extensive research, we can see consumers increasingly ask for seamless access to high quality TV and video content, across services and devices. For consumers in general, and millennials in particular, being able to watch on the smartphone is key. Consumers not only want the shared, social broadcast TV experience, they also expect the flexibility of an à la carte on-demand media offering. Today’s experience is multifaceted and consumers want to create their own worlds of compelling, personalized content.”

Cathaya also mentions: “Even if scheduled linear TV loses share of total viewing time, it is still roughly twice as big as any other TV and video type. Paid scheduled linear TV services continue to account for about 29 percent of the average household media spending in South Korea. However, consumers are looking for an immersive content viewing experience, meaning fully engaging in the content they like, how they like. As viewing expands to include different services, so does the consumers TV/video spending. Providers must expand their service offering if they wish to preserve current revenues.”

About this report

Based on interviews with 30,000 individuals in 24 countries, statistically representing the views of 1.1 billion people, the Ericsson ConsumerLab TV and Media Report 2016 is the largest study of its kind into TV viewing habits. With supporting data and insight from on-device measurements and qualitative research, the report details the latest consumer behaviors, attitudes and demands in relation to TV and Media, and the potential impact these trends can have on current industry business models.

Interviews were undertaken with consumers aged 16-69 across 24 markets: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, the UK and the US. All respondents have a broadband Internet connection at home and watch TV and video at least once a week. Almost all use the Internet on a daily basis.

South Korea is one of the major markets in the global study. More than 1000 online interviews were held with people aged 16-69 who have a broadband internet connection at home and watch TV/video at least once a week. Result in this year represents views of 32 million Korean consumers.