12% of U.S. 18-34 year olds have a 'virtual' pay TV service

Monday, April 9th, 2018
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12% Of Ages 18-34 Get An Internet-Delivered Pay-TV Service

  • Streaming Pay-TV Services Augmenting Video Consumption in the Household

DURHAM, NH — New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that 18-34 year-olds account for 53% of adults in the U.S. that have a live streaming Internet-delivered pay-TV service (like Sling TV, DIRECTV NOW, PlayStation Vue, Hulu with Live TV, or You Tube TV). Overall, 11% of adults ages 18-44 currently have an Internet-delivered pay-TV service — compared to 3% of ages 45 and above.

Among all that have an Internet-delivered pay-TV service, 93% also have a subscription video on-Demand (SVOD) service from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and/or Hulu. Additionally, 49% of Internet-delivered pay-TV subscribers have a TV antenna for watching over-the-air broadcast TV, and 35% also have a pay-TV service from a traditional (cable, satellite, or Telco) provider.

These findings are based on an online survey of 6,947 households from throughout the United States and are part of a new LRG study, Internet-Delivered Pay-TV Services. This is LRG’s inagural study dedicated to this topic.

Other related findings include:

  • 12% of adults that moved in the past year have an Internet-delivered pay-TV service — compared to 6% of non-movers
  • Internet-delivered pay-TV subscribers watch these services at home 78% of the time — compared to 80% at home viewing of HBO NOW, and 88% at home viewing of Netflix
  • 69% of current Internet-delivered pay-TV subscribers are very satisfied with their service — yet, 27% are very likely to switch from an Internet-delivered pay-TV service in the next six months
  • 24% of those that do not currently have an Internet-delivered pay-TV service are very interested in getting one
  • 76% of all adults agree that there are specific networks or programming genres that are “must haves” for a TV service in their household –- this includes 88% of those very interested in getting an Internet-delivered pay-TV service

“There is clearly a growing niche market for lower-cost/lower-channel live streaming pay-TV services — particularly among younger, more mobile renters, and those living in households with more people,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. “Currently, these Internet-delivered pay-TV services are augmenting other sources of video in home, and consumers are experimenting with the various streaming pay-TV services to discover what combinations of video offerings work best for their household.”