Global research specialist GfK has revealed findings from its latest research on subscription video on demand (SVOD) services usage in the UK and US, examining audience data for OTT viewing of video content for services such as Netflix and Amazon Instant.
Since doing the tracking study since 2011 there have been a lot of changes, said Christine Connor, research director at GfK, presenting the results. The analogue switch-off and an increase in new devices has handed control to consumers. The company also has retail data, giving an insight into the types of screens and devices audiences use to consume content. In 2004, almost half of TV screen were 21-inches or smaller, according to GfK's research, which fell to less than 6 per cent in 2014. Sales of TV screens of 42-inches grew to 23.8 per cent this year, compared with 14 per cent 10 years ago. The UK still lags behind the USA, in terms of main set screen size, said Connor, Things are changing. But until lounge rooms get bigger, there will be a limit.
There has also been an increase in consumers buying smart TVs, with one in five now owning a set. Of their decision to purchase a smart TV, 27 per cent wanted to access VoD services from their main TV and one in three wanted to access the internet. However, it seems that it is not such smart' functions which drive growth in sales, as 64 per cent of owners gave their reason for buying as simply wanting a new TV.
Second screening has also grown over the last years as people have access to more devices, commented Connor. In 2013, 16 per cent had a tablet and 31 per cent owned a smartphone. Just a year later this grew to 40 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively. In an ideal world you'd want them to be looking at content directly related to what they are watching on TV, added Connor. Yet most people don't want different media activities to be integrated.
GfK also conducted research into SVOD services, an industry first, claimed Julia Lamaison, media research and insight director, GfK UK. The study was supported by BBC Worldwide, allowing it to understand the content that audiences love and value on SVOD, who these audiences are and when, where and how they're watching it, said Stella Creasey, SVP global research and insights, brands, BBC Worldwide.
Such platforms are fast moving from niche to mainstream, the study suggested, with disruption coming among young audiences. In the UK, 50 per cent of current subscribers to SVOD services are aged 16-34. So what has driven the adoption of these services? GfK's study in the UK and US involved 5,615 respondents and asked consumers the main reasons they signed up for the services. In the UK the largest proportion wanted access to a catalogue of movies, followed by a desire to access a catalogue of TV series. The idea of binge watching' seems a relatively new idea, driven by access to SVOD services. However, 42 per cent of respondents in GfK's study cited wanting to watch multiple episodes in a row as their reason for signing up to the service, slightly below the having access to recent movie releases.
The study also asked about the type of content audiences are consuming. Unsurprisingly, six of the top 10 titles were the same in both the UK and the US and included House of Cards, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. Most people watch this content on Netflix: The market leader in both markets, said Lamaison. However, there is evidence that users have multiple accounts, for streaming TV programmes and movies. Lamaison highlighted NowTV as a newcomer to watch out for. The SVOD service has been growing recently, and is interesting as its quite a different prospect, offering sports as well as the usual TV packages.
Our TV consumption habits continue to change, and GfK is continuing to track them: the company announced that it is launching a continuous tracking programme from October, hoping to expand to a 52-week programme covering the UK and the US, with options to cover new markets including the Netherlands and Brazil - both countries where Netflix has recently launched.
www.geniusdigital.tv
www.gfk.com
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Global research specialist GfK has revealed findings from its latest research on subscription video on demand (SVOD) services usage in the UK and US, examining audience data for OTT viewing of video content for services such as Netflix and Amazon Instant.
