The content-industrial complex is churning out more original shows and movies on a proliferating number of video streaming services. Consumers now have a glut of choices as to which apps get their monthly subscription dollars.
According to Nielsen's Q3 Total Audience Report, viewers have definite factors in mind when it comes deciding whether to subscribe to another new SVOD (subscription video on-demand) service.
Nieslen's MediaTech Trender consumer tracking study surveyed US respondents 13 years and older about the most important attributes of video streaming services (respondents could choose multiple answers). Nielsen found that the variety of content available and the app's ease of use topped the list of buying factors at 57 and 56 percent of respondents, respectively.
There are caveats to both of those attributes. First, the increasingly competitive market of SVOD services—which includes not only Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, and CBS but a new influx of options from Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, and WarnerMedia—makes it nearly impossible to find all the content you want in one place. Streaming platforms are bankrolling original content and pulling their licensed shows and movies into their own walled gardens, meaning the early days of Netflix and Hulu, where most networks licensed their catalog to one streaming service, are gone. The same caveats exist for the 52 percent of respondents prioritizing access to movies.
In terms of the technology powering these services, the major streaming apps all suffer from the same problem: The user interfaces suck. Fifty-one percent of respondents said "accessibility/search of desired content" is a key factor. Faced with more content to sift through than ever, viewers are stuck with the same scrolling library-style interfaces we've had for a decade, with imperfect machine-learning-driven "personalization" attempting to surface what you want to watch.
Nielsen also surveyed respondents who said they don't plan on subscribing to the new video-streaming services because of various barriers. For 36 percent, viewers simply don't see the need to cut the cord. In terms of some of the other attributes above—access to specific network programming, local programming, and sporting events—a cable package is still your best bet. Another 18 percent of respondents said broadcast TV has a more reliable signal; no buffering or bandwidth issues.
The crowded field of streaming options can also make it confusing to figure out exactly where to stream specific network programming, particularly since options like WarnerMedia's forthcoming streaming service plan to combine all the content from HBO, TNT, TBS, TruTV, CNN, the CW, Warner Bros. and DC Comics films, Cartoon Network, and more into a single app.
For many other respondents, streaming services just aren't worth it. Thirty-three percent said they didn't want to pay for the extra expense of one or more monthly streaming subscriptions, 26 percent said they're not interested in the content available on streaming apps, and 22 percent simply don't watch much TV or online video.
Nielsen's Q3 Total Audience Report has a lot more data on streaming video, usage of connected devices such as smart TVs, and overall digital media consumption, which remains about the same from a year ago. Download the full report for a deeper dive into all the data.
