TDG: 65% of 18-24s prefer SVOD to pay TV

Almost two thirds of US broadband users aged 18-24 would choose SVOD over traditional pay TV if they were forced to pick one, according to new research.

The Diffusion Group (TDG) study found that 65.4% of 18-24s and 53.7% of 25-34 year-olds would opt for services like Netflix and Hulu over legacy pay TV services.

However, the trend reversed with age with older viewers still opting for pay TV offerings, according to TDG’s seventh annual Benchmarking the Connected Consumer study.

Some 61.2% of 35-44 year olds, 70.9% of 45-54 year olds, and 72.2% of 55-65 year said they would pick pay TV over a subscription streaming video service.

“There is no doubt that SVOD has taken and is taking a growing part of mainstream mindshare, especially among younger viewers,” said TDG president Michael Greeson.

He claimed that pay TV providers face a “growing threat” that legacy pay TV subscribers today that also pay for SVOD services could become over-the-top pay TV customers in the future.

“The question now is whether pure-play broadband pay TV providers – those without legacy assets, like Hulu TV – can capitalise on the opportunity.”

TDG’s research was based on a survey of more than 2,000 US adult broadband users conducted in Q2 2017.