KPMG: Brit Consumers Will Pay for Online Streaming Services

LONDON: KPMG’s latest Media & Entertainment Barometer reports that streaming content services are becoming more mainstream in the U.K., particularly among younger viewers, with iPlayer having the greatest brand awareness, followed by the ITV player and Amazon-owned LoveFilm.

KPMG U.K.’s report also points to an increasing willingness among consumers to pay for online streaming services; 64 percent of respondents said they would pay for films online, up from 60 percent in March 2011.

David Elms, the head of media at KPMG, noted: “Judging by our survey it seems that new entrants into the U.K. market have got their timing right. The foundations for online streaming services to be successful appear to be set. Not only is awareness and usage of streaming high, but willingness to pay for content has increased too. There are, however, barriers, not least the likely cost of set top boxes. What is more, by the end of 2012, everyone in the UK will have digital terrestrial TV, with the choice of between 20 and 30 channels. That’s a lot of free TV. It is possible that the majority of TV households don’t actually need anything more.”

Other key findings include the rising usage of tablets and smartphones. “We continue to see mobile media as an attractive means to monetize content, given the continuing rise in the uptake of smartphones, tablets and eReaders," Elms said. "Whilst consumers continue to embrace new media at a rapid pace, a ‘mixed ecology’ persists, with a majority still enjoying traditional media such as reading books or watching TV.”