Majority of Americans, Britons ‘Unlikely’ to Watch Pirated Content

AMSTERDAM: According to a new global survey from Irdeto, 70 percent of U.S. consumers and 72 percent of U.K. respondents say they are unlikely to watch pirated content, while the majority of those in the Asia Pacific are open to it.

Less than half of respondents in Asia and Australia say they are unlikely or extremely unlikely to watch pirated content: 40 percent in Australia, 40 percent in India, 31 percent in Singapore and just 9 percent in Indonesia.

The research also finds that viewing pirated content is far more prevalent among young people, and the willingness to access pirated content generally decreases with age. In the U.K., 62 percent of those 18 to 24 admitted to watching pirated material, as did 54 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds in the U.S. This was much higher than older respondents, illustrating that young people are more willing to embrace piracy to watch what they want.

More than 90 percent in the U.S. and the 52 percent in the U.K. who do watch pirated content say it is a few times a year or less, signaling that in markets where more content is available, there is less of a need to download it illegally. The number one reason cited by consumers in Australia (26 percent) and Singapore (31 percent) for watching pirated video content was because the video content is not available legally in their location. However, price was a top factor for consumers in India (29 percent) and Indonesia (36 percent) to watch pirated video content.

“One of the most interesting findings from our survey was that availability, poor quality and security issues are deterrents for downloading illegal content,” said Bengt Jonsson, the VP for the Asia Pacific at Irdeto. “This is a clear message to operators to provide high-quality content at the right price. This could be a differentiator to remain competitive in a diverse region like Asia Pac.”

The research was commissioned by Irdeto and conducted by YouGov and Populus.