According to TiVo's (NASDAQ: TIVO) 2017 survey of pay TV and over-the-top (OTT) service subscribers across the United States, Europe and Latin America, consumers' propensity to cut the pay TV cord depends to a large degree on how long they've had pay TV service.
Among the findings:
- One in four consumers who have had pay TV services for less than 12 months are "extremely likely" to cord cut or cord shave in the next six months.
- 55% of pay TV subscribers in the United States and 42% in western Europe have had service with their current provider for four years or more, compared to 32% in Latin America.
- In the United States and western Europe, tenured pay TV subscribers are much more likely to be Baby Boomers instead of Millennials, in contrast to Latin America where the distribution of age groups is fairly even. Among those in the United States who have been with their provider for four years or more, 51% are Boomers while only 11% are Millennials.
- In western Europe, just 43% of those who have had their pay TV service for four years or more subscribe to an OTT service, compared to 49% in the United States and 67% in Latin America.
"As new, shiny OTT services and streaming devices continue to proliferate in the market and compete for consumer attention, there is considerable risk that younger generations may come to view pay TV as an antiquated service that doesn't play a role in their daily lives," said Paul Stathacopoulos, vice president of Strategy and Research, TiVo. "Service providers must focus on delivering entertainment experiences that are compelling to a highly segmented viewer composition. By staying ahead of the curve through technology innovation, providers can retain longer term subscribers, while attracting young consumers by adapting the TV experience to include a wide array of Internet video services and viewing devices."
TiVo believes that improved content discovery, including voice control, are good strategies to help service providers retain customers.
TiVo found that more than 38% of viewers shut down and turn off their devices altogether when they can't find something to watch. Some 50% "strongly agree" that, for the amount they pay for their TV service, it should be easier to find what they want to watch, while 26% say they would pay more each month for a service that simplified video discovery across all the services they subscribe to.
Stathacopoulos said: "As video entertainment options expand, consumers around the world continue to consume a vast amount of content across services and devices. But without a shift or focus on innovating the way consumers connect to entertainment, hyper-fragmentation will continue to be a barrier, driving consumer frustration and impacting how the industry captures the entertainment wallet share."
While voice control is still in its early days, those who use it appear to be using it often, TiVo says.
- On average, 60% of global respondents who own a voice remote use it frequently or every day.
- 64% of those who own voice controlled home assistants use them frequently or every day.
- 59% of those with access to a voice enabled video app use it frequently or every day.
- 61% of those who own voice controlled wearable devices use the technology frequently or every day.
"When it comes to voice technology, we see broad appeal across all generations, and this year's survey findings validate that claim. We believe that voice will become the norm, especially as voice assistants continue to enter homes and voice search technologies become more accurate and intuitive," said Stathacopoulos.
The findings are from an online survey of 8,500 pay TV and OTT subscribers across seven countries, with 2,500 interviews completed in the United States and 1,000 interviews completed each in the UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.
