US consumers turning to SVoD over cable

Almost half of US consumers with an SVoD and pay TV subscription watch their streaming services as much as, or more than, cable, according to a study of streaming habits by IBM Cloud Video.

According to the study of 1,000 US consumers, almost two thirds of adults have used an SVoD service. Some 72% of Millennials with b oth SVoD and cable watch the SVoD service as much or more than their cable service.

Some 72% of SVoD customers take Netflix, according to the survey, with 14% taking the next most popular offering, Amazon Prime, and 7% taking Hulu. Access to more content is the primary reason for taking an SVoD subscription. In the case of Amazon Prime, however, only 14% signed up specifically for the video servie, with the majority attracted by shopping benefits.

The survey found that 42% of SVoD customers shared their password with family members, but only 4% shared it with others. Six per cent of SVoD viewers admitted to using someone else’s password to view content, although 27% said they had borrowed a password to try a service before subscribing. Amazon Prime customers are much less likely to share passwords than others, probably because the service also gives access to one-click shopping.

Thirty-one per cent of respondents said they had cancelled a streaming service, with Hulu and Amazon customers more likely to cancel than Netflix users. Reasons to cancel included too many ads, cited by 27%, cost, cited by 25% and lack of good content, cited by 20%. Technical reception problems were cited as a reason to leave by 17%.

Technical problems are common, with 49% saying they had experienced buffering, and 24% saying they had experienced delays in content starting.