16% of U.S. adults aged 18-44 have vMVPD-delivered pay TV

16% of Ages 18-44 Get a vMVPD Internet-Delivered Pay-TV Service

DURHAM, NH — New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that 18-44 year-olds account for 71% of adults in the U.S. that have a live streaming vMVPD pay-TV service (like Sling TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, or PlayStation Vue). Overall, 16% of adults ages 18-44 currently have a vMVPD service – compared to 6% of ages 45 and above.

Of those that currently get a vMVPD service, 43% switched directly from a traditional (cable, satellite, or Telco) pay-TV service, and 25% also have a traditional service. In addition, 17% switched from another vMVPD service, and 15% were most recently non-subscribers to any type of pay-TV service.

These findings are based on an online survey of 6,715 households from throughout the United States and are part of a new LRG study, Internet-Delivered Pay-TV Services 2019. This is LRG’s second annual study dedicated to this topic.

Other related findings include:

• 42% with a vMVPD service are ages 18-34 – compared to 26% of traditional pay-TV subscribers, and 33% of pay-TV non-subscribers in TV households
• vMVPD subscribers have a mean annual household income similar to traditional pay-TV subscribers, but 33% above non-subscribers in TV households
• 73% of vMVPD subscribers are very satisfied with their service – but, 20% are very likely to switch from a vMVPD service in the next six months
• 93% with a vMVPD service also have an SVOD service from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and/or Hulu – compared to 71% of traditional pay-TV subscribers, and 74% of non-subscribers in TV households
• vMVPD subscribers watch these services at home 78% of the time – compared to 82% at home viewing of HBO NOW, and 88% at home viewing of Netflix
• 24% of those that do not currently have a vMVPD service are very interested in getting one

“vMVPD services were first introduced about four years ago, and the market for these lower-cost/lower-channel pay-TV services is still growing and evolving,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Consumers continue to experiment with the various vMVPD services, along with other traditional and streaming options, to find the best combinations of video content and cost.”