TWO OUT OF EVERY THREE Canadian households can stream over-the-top video services via their television sets using a dedicated streaming device or a game console or a laptop/PC, according to new research from Toronto’s Solutions Research Group.
The fall edition of the company’s syndicated Digital Life survey, which is based on 1,000 interviews in September 2015, took a close look at OTT video and TVE among other subjects and found:
- The percentage of online households connecting a dedicated OTT streaming device (Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, etc.) to their TV nearly doubled from 12% to 22% since 2013.
- Adding TVs connected to game consoles and PCs/laptops, two-thirds of all online households in Canada are capable of consuming OTT content via their TVs.
The research also found that most Canadians are paying for their streaming, showing that 40% of Canadian households are using paid OTT video services, with Netflix accounting for a lion’s share of this.
- Close to one-in-two Canadian online households are regular OTT video users (47%) using paid or free services (e.g., torrents).
- 40% are paid OTT users and Netflix accounts for the lion’s share of this at the moment.
- Note that Canadian OTT video use is below the U.S. levels which is about 58% of households monthly according to recent Parks Associates research. The fact that there are two other longer-tenured services such as Hulu and Amazon Prime in the U.S. helps explain that gap.
- 83% of Canadian OTT video users are under 50, with an average age of 36.6; and half of the households have kids under 18 – in other words younger than Canadian average, says the press release.
- Consumers are becoming familiar with shomi and Crave: 76% have heard of Shomi and 69% heard of Crave TV, however take-up remains low.
The research also shows consumers prefer ‘TV content’ on OTT video services, especially on Netflix.
- On Netflix, one-hour TV/Drama series (including Netflix originals) accounted for 52% of ‘most recent’ viewing in September 2015, with movies coming in at 25% and sitcoms at 7%
TV Everywhere use – via portals and apps (such as Rogers Gamecentre or CTV GO) – is also trending up but still remains niche.
- As of September 2015, One-in-ten paid TV households have used authenticated TVE services (where the platform is tied to a home’s cable/satellite/IPTV subscription), up significantly from last year, with Bell and Rogers subscribers leading the charge of 14% and 13% having used TVE services respectively; FIFA World Cup and Pan Am games likely played a role in the expansion of TVE use, says the release.
- One-in-four smartphones and tablets now have TV channel or provider app (e.g., Rogers Anywhere, CBC), also up from last year.
The number of Internet households without paid TV has also hit an all-time high, says the release.
- The number of Internet households without paid TV in Canada reached 12.1%, or approximately 1.4 million households, up from 10.5% in 2013 and 7.3% in 2011, according to SRG tracking, suggesting elevated cord-cutting and cord-nevering in broadband households.
For more, go to www.srgnet.com
