By Jonathan Easton
Almost two-thirds of US TV households subscribe to both a pay TV service and at least one SVOD service, a new report has found.
According to Leichtman Research Group, 60 per cent of US TV households have both a pay TV service and at least one SVOD subscription. Underlining the huge emergence of SVOD, a further 20 per cent of households have an SVOD subscription but no pay TV package – meaning that 80 per cent of homes with a TV in the country subscribe to an SVOD.
Non-SVOD homes represent the remaining 20 per cent, with 14 per cent only having a pay TV service and 6 per cent having neither pay TV nor SVOD and instead relying on a TV antenna.
It’s worth noting that the figures may be skewed by the fact that pay TV operators and broadcasters are increasingly launching their own SVODs and offering them for free to their subscribers – such as is the case with Comcast and Peacock.
The figures come from LRG’s 18th annual study on pay TV in the US, and are based on a survey of 2,000 households from across the country.
The study also found that the proportion of pay TV subscribers has dropped from 88 per cent in 2010 and 85 per cent in 2015 to 74 per cent today.
Pay TV penetration is also higher amongst older people, with 81% of adults aged 55+ having a pay TV service – compared to 76 per cent of ages 35-54, and 63 per cent of ages 18-34. The generation divide is also laid bare by the fact that 27 per cent of 18-34 year olds pay for TV and SVOD, compared to 46 per cent with only SVOD.
President and principal analyst for LRG, Bruce Lichtman said: “Traditional pay-TV services from cable, satellite, and Telco providers are now in less than two-thirds of U.S households, while an increasing number of households are opting to get live pay-TV from Internet-delivered vMVPD services.
“Consumers continue to choose the video services that best fit their households’ needs. For 60 per cent of households, this includes both pay-TV and SVOD services.”
