What Streamers Want: Three Tips for Keeping Up With the Shifting Streaming Market

Without question, the pandemic has accelerated the already shifting trend of audiences making the switch from traditional broadcast video to digital streaming — and the industry is seeing changes:   

• Streaming minutes are up 23% worldwide. 

• While ad sales took a hit earlier this year, connected devices such as smart TVs saw the most resilience with a decrease in CPMs of 6% — considerably less than other devices. To close out the year, the industry is expecting a 6% YOY increase in overall digital ad spend.

• New streaming services are emerging such as Quibi, Peacock, HBO Max. 

As the streaming industry grows, businesses must pay attention to what viewers want to keep them from going to a competitor — so we partnered with YouGov to explore trends like what device audiences stream on the most and how willing streamers are to try new services. Here are some of our most notable findings:

1. Streaming is up all around, with smartphones taking the lead.

People are streaming more on all devices, but the biggest jump in views goes to the smallest device —  smartphones take the lead with a 46% increase in streaming since the COVID-19 outbreak began. This trend may be here to stay with mobile subscriptions claiming 40% of the subscription-based video on demand (SVOD) market by 2025. 

Action: Optimize your mobile viewing experience – your content needs to be pushed through a mobile app; mobile-web won’t cut it. Audiences want to turn a screen and watch content from every angle and they want to click and share their favorite episodes using social sharing features. Having an improved performance can also reduce costs for service providers and enhance viewer experience, encouraging loyalty.

2. Ad-supported and subscription-supported video were both watched equally. 

Viewers didn't mind watching their favorite shows with ads in between, but they were also willing to pay for a monthly or yearly service without ads. When asked how they liked to watch their content, ad-supported (AVOD) and subscription-based (SVOD) services were preferred equally. 

Action: Give your audience what they want – the power of choice. With both ad-supported and subscription-based models, viewers are free to choose how they spend their time and money. These models also give viewers a sense of control, something they’ve never had with traditional broadcast services.

3. Seven out of ten people are willing to try a new streaming service. 

Now is the time to launch that new service. But before you can convince audiences to pull out their wallets, consider giving them a taste of what you have to offer. Nearly 63% of consumers said the primary driver to try a new service was a free-trial or offer.

Action: Make sure you build your service with the ability to offer trials, couponing, and promotions. For example, Revry, the first global LGBTQ streaming network, relaunched its apps during pride month with a special promotion for new subscribers and is now reaching over 250 million homes and devices.

Streaming is higher than it's ever been before so if you're looking to get ahead of the shifting market, now is the time. Invest in your technology platform, content, and promotional strategy and prepare for a future in the growing streaming market.