Ericsson: Streaming Almost Level with Linear TV Viewing

STOCKHOLM: According to the latest edition of the annual Ericsson ConsumerLab TV & Media Report, streaming is closing in on linear TV, with a gap of just two percentage points in terms of weekly consumption.

The report finds that 75 percent of people watch any type of streamed video several times a week or more, compared to 77 percent who watch scheduled broadcast TV several times a week or more. The study also asserts that SVOD accelerates binge viewing: 56 percent of SVOD users prefer all TV series episodes to be available at once so that they can watch at their own pace, compared to 45 percent of non SVOD users.

There is also an increased willingness to pay for anywhere access nowadays. Since 2012, the number of people that are prepared to pay for accessing TV content on any device has increased by 25 percent. Smartphone viewing time has in the same period increased by 15 percent, despite significant mobile access and business model barriers.

It also reveals that traditional broadcast and pay-TV channels are seen by many as "content repositories" from which consumers cherry-pick individual pieces of content to "harvest" for later viewing, using their DVR. Ericsson asserts that it is time to change the structure of TV services, as traditional TV providers are facing challenges. The average Net Promoter Score (NPS) for OTT on-demand services in the U.S. is 39, much higher than that for traditional TV providers at 12. "In the future, consumers will not accept paying for inflexible managed TV packages in order to get access to the content they love," the report states.

The results are based on interviews with over 23,000 people in 23 different countries.