News & Opinion

Recent research from the Future Today x Variety Intelligence Platform Streaming Study, took an in-depth look at the latest TV viewing behavior and streaming preferences, polling U.S. consumers to identify the emerging trends shaping OTT, advertising, and the broader TV industry.   Data highlights from the report found that the majority of consumers (67.89%) prefer choosing the individual programs they’d like to watch on an on-demand basis, compared to just 12.5% who prefer pre-programmed, linear channels.   Other findings and insights of note: 50.6% of US consumers prefer using ad-supported video services to reduce costs Streaming ads are twice as likely to be relevant to a viewers’ interests than ads seen on cable or broadcast TV 5% of consumers plan to decrease their number of paid subscriptions Of those who have used a free trial in the last 12 months, 41.2% subscribed after the trial ended   “Consumer viewing preferences continue to evolve. Streaming has become the de facto source for watching TV shows and movies, but not all services, platforms and models will thrive in this shifting media landscape,” said Vikrant Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder of Future Today. “Despite some pundits’ expectations, we’re seeing AVOD adoption flourish, and expect this trend will continue to grow for years to come. Our research solidifies that with the right viewing experience, the ad-supported streaming model is ideal for content owners, brands and, most importantly, audiences.”   Helping power VIP+’s analysis throughout the State of Streaming 2021 is exclusive data from third-party firms such as connected TV analytics firm TVision and leading multichannel streaming company Future Today, as well as pollster YouGov and analytics firm Magid.   Read the complete report and analysis from Future Today here.

Here’s our favorite contradictory statement of the month: “Linear TV is popular and ripe for replacement.” -Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.   Are TV networks dinosaurs being wiped out by a big asteroid called Netflix? Hastings aka Netflix has a stake in non-linear viewing, but executives sure seem to be taking a page from a tried and true playbook. Its foray into original programming, House of Cards, actually demonstrated the strength of the release-a-week, linear TV-type model. With all the HoC episodes available at once, viewers consumed individually – all, part or nothing. The result: no big, next day, viewer buzz.   We’re leery of media death knells: with the advent of TV, the death of movies was predicted, but 1.14 billion tickets were sold in 2012. Everyone’s buying personal entertainment devices, yet there are still TVs in use in 97.1% of U.S. households, according to A.C. Nielsen.   Yes, consumption destinations are changing, but big cable and broadcast nets continue to have the content distribution model with the longest tail, and Netflix, for the near future, should hope it keeps wagging.   What is your take on Netflix's disruptive incursion into original programming? Share your comments below.   -Bob Gold & Associates