Becoming a mainstay in consumers' streaming portfolios

In a few short years, smarter devices, better connection speeds and the increasing choice of content have transformed people's interactions with video streaming. The number of global OTT¹ video subscribers has almost tripled in the past four years² and cult series are taking people's passions for their favourite shows off the screen into thriving communities and themed IRL³ events. As a result of all these shifts, viewing habits are changing and we're seeing three main trends emerge in video streaming consumer behaviour: personal portfolios, mobile questers and community navigators.

The unprecedented surge in streaming services has given consumers more choice and more purchasing power – over half^* of 18-34-year-olds in the US⁴ who have trialled a video streaming service in the past six months already pay for three or more subscriptions. What's more, 46% of the same group expect to be paying for more video streaming services next year than they do now.

With so many streaming options on the market, people are looking for customised solutions and are turning to their peers for advice on what to watch, with 68% of 18-34-year-olds in the UK saying that recommendations from friends or family are influential when deciding whether to try a new streaming service. And many people are now preferring to interact with streaming content via mobile, whether to discover recent releases or to try new services. In France, half (50%) of those who signed up for a paid stand-alone streaming service on a mobile device in the last six months say they did so because it's the easiest way to complete the sign-up process.

While these trends hold true across all the markets surveyed, there are also some geographical nuances in viewer habits. For example, audiences across continents have different attitudes towards mixing and matching streaming services – while 65% of Brazilian viewers agree that putting together customised streaming bundles is the best value for their household, less than a quarter^* of viewers in Japan feel this way. And although people in all markets already know of several streaming services they would like to try, the amount of diverse content that people seek varies from country – in India, 60% said that one specific piece of content drove them to sign up for a service, while 58% of German trialists said that several pieces of content drove them to do so. The role of mobile is significant for consumers across all countries and is particularly strong in Indonesia, where 80% of people prefer to watch content on their smartphone or tablet, compared to 47% of those in Australia.

As a result of this changing landscape, consumers are most drawn to brands that are easy to discover and use, whether it's through their strong presence in online communities or their high-quality mobile content across platforms. And with the continuing growth in streaming services, people will be looking to brands that can clearly communicate their offerings and to those that can create a more personalised viewing experience.