ARRIS Research Reveals UK Consumers are Finding New Ways to Get Entertainment on Their Terms
Binge-viewing, second-screen purchasing, DVR usage, and multiscreen/room consumption on the rise—tracking consumer demand for entertainment anytime, anywhere, on any device, and in any amount
The ARRIS 2014 Consumer Entertainment Index, launched today, reveals consumer demand for personalized entertainment is driving several key trends in global content consumption, with significant implications for tomorrow’s entertainment services.
Broadcast TV remains the staple of in-home entertainment, with a near universal 95% penetration rate in the UK and new implications for multiscreen and multi-room viewing. The vast majority of UK consumers are engaged in binge-TV viewing: 73% now watching multiple TV episodes or even an entire series in a single sitting. Meanwhile, a growing aversion to traditional TV advertising is opening the door for multiscreen merchandising. And the biggest challenge of today’s multiscreen world may be finding the space to save everything we want to watch.
ARRIS’s Consumer Entertainment Index is an independent study of global media consumption habits, surveying 10,500 consumers from 19 countries. The study tracks engagement with various components of the entertainment experience—including multiscreen, advertising, and DVR—to offer insight into the trends that are driving the evolution of content consumption.
Key findings from the ARRIS Consumer Entertainment Index:
- Traditional TV advertising is a turn-off; consumers shift attention to program-related purchases: 73% of UK consumers record entertainment to skip the ads. 46% said that ads on their smartphone are intrusive. However, 28% of UK consumers use secondary devices to purchase products featured on the programs they watch.
- UK consumers turn TV-binging into a habit: 63% admit to ‘binge-viewing’ entertainment; 86% of 16-24 year-olds have binge-watched TV content
- Consumers love entertainment in the living room but are ‘tuned-in’ in the bedroom: Broadcast TV is here to stay, but carries new implications for multiscreen and multi-room viewing. Globally and in the UK, the living room remains the most popular room for viewing TV. In the UK 33% of tablet owners use their tablet, and 24% of smartphone users use their smartphone in the bedroom to watch entertainment
- In 2014, UK households argue over not what to watch but what to delete:68% of DVR owners say they have to delete programs because they ran out of space, despite 24.4% of recorded content having never been watched
Sandy Howe, SVP, Global Marketing, ARRIS, commented: “The rapid growth of mobile devices, increasing reach of high-speed broadband networks, and ease of content access is reshaping the way people engage with entertainment. Consumers now expect entertainment on their terms—control over what they watch, when and where they watch it.
“Our Consumer Entertainment Index found that consumers express these expectations in the ways they engage with entertainment in the home. We’ve found a healthy appetite for traditional forms of entertainment, like broadcast TV, and this serves as the foundation for new ways of consuming that content—like multiscreen, multi-room, and binge-viewing. Meanwhile, we’re seeing an uptick in conversion on second-screen merchandising.
These trends underscore an opportunity for service providers to offer more personalized services and program-related content that address this shift in engagement,” Howe continued.
BINGING HAS BECOME A HABIT
Binge-viewing has gone mainstream and is especially popular with women and younger audiences in the living room.
- 73% admit to ‘binge-viewing’ entertainment in the UK. 27% of 16-24 year-olds binge-watch once a week (20% globally); 5% of UK respondents say they binge at least once a day. 47% of 25-34 year-olds in the UK binge-watch at least 2-3 times a month (37% globally)
- The most popular way to binge-view content in the UK is to download via a free catch-up service (35%) or via a free streaming service (26%)
- Binge-viewing most often takes place on ‘standard TV’ (44%). The next most popular devices for binge-viewing are DVD and Blue-ray players (40%), DVR recording (36%) and laptops (27%) over smartphones, and tablets.
- Dramas tend to be the preferred binge-viewing content for 68% of respondents, followed by entertainment programs (33%).
- 8% of respondents said they would pay for a service that allowed them to immediately download/stream recently completed TV series, and 13% would be happy to pay a little more for it if it came as part of a bundle deal. 12% also said they would choose a provider who offered this type of service.
- 20% of men say they binge-view at least once a week, compared to 19% of women
- Younger age groups are more likely to binge-view with 30% of 25-34 year olds and 27% of 16-24 year-olds saying they do it at least once a week.
TRADITIONAL TV ADVERTISEMENTS ARE A TURN-OFF; CONSUMERS SHIFT ATTENTION TO PROGRAM-RELATED PURCHASES
The study suggests that traditional TV and mobile advertising is reaching a saturation point, while UK consumers appear to embrace new forms of personalized and program-related merchandising.
- 84% of people admitted to wanting to fast-forward ads they watch; 67% of respondents said they want to fast-forward more than half the time they watch TV.
- UK consumers are consciously finding ways around advertising – it’s a reason for why the majority record or download programs. 57% of those surveyed say they record content to be able to fast-forward through advertising.
- 46% of UK consumers feel that mobile advertising is intrusive.
- 77% of UK consumers (compared to 49% globally) never click through or follow up on TV advertisement on their connected devices.
- Consumers are increasingly using more than one device to engage in the TV program they are watching. Of those who have done so, 36% used a second device to access historical information about the program; 24% access live information about the programs they are watching
- Interestingly, 25% of UK consumers using secondary devices have done so to purchase products featured in the programs they watch; those who are more likely to be early adopters, 16-24 year olds who use a second screen while watching TV, are more likely than any other age group to purchase something based on the TV show they are watching – 32% saying they are likely to have bought a song
CONSUMERS LOVE ENTERTAINMENT IN THE LIVING ROOM BUT ARE STILL “TUNED-IN” IN THE BEDROOM
Traditional broadcast TV remains a staple of the home entertainment ecosystem, and the living room continues to be the preferred location for entertainment viewing in the home, but consumers are extending this paradigm onto more devices in more rooms. Watching TV is often the secondary action to provide background entertainment, as mobile smart devices have become much more of a distraction – often taking consumers away from the content they’re watching on their main screen. This makes traditional TV something that is easy to put down as well as pick up. Internet TV is also on the rise in the living room and remains stable in the bedroom.
The living room is still central to consuming entertainment, with the majority of all types of content being viewed in that room. Thanks to new devices, respondents are branching out from the living room – 33% of tablet owners use a tablet, and 24% of smartphone owners use a smartphone to view content in the bedroom; 68% of those who own both tablets and smartphones prefer tablets
- 85% of UK respondents said they watch broadcast TV in the living room, while 88% said they watch subscription paid TV.
- Tablet and smartphone use for watching media and content is increasing in the rooms not traditionally associated with this – the dining room, the kitchen and the bathroom.
- Around a quarter of UK smartphone owners watch TV on their smartphone for at least a few minutes a week.
- This is also the case for around four out of ten tablet owners.
- Nearly half of those surveyed in the UK (49%) are interested in a service that allows them to watch any TV program from any device in any location.
- Broadcast TV is here to stay – 95% of UK respondents watch at least one hour of broadcast TV each week.
- 32% said that they would be interested in pausing and restarting content in another room.
- 40% of UK respondents have used a device to do a task while watching TV.
- The device most likely to distract UK consumers in 2014 is the laptop (21%), followed by the smartphone (9%). Among 16-24 & 25-34 year olds, this rises to 23% and 18% respectively
- 37% of UK respondents said that they were browsing the Internet in a manner unrelated to the content on TV using a second device; 39% said they were online shopping; 36% also said they were texting/messaging/emailing friends or family; 29% said they were browsing social media; 25% said playing a game.
HOUSEHOLDS ARGUE NOT OVER WHAT TO WATCH, BUT WHAT TO DELETE
Recording of content is causing frustration in the household. With so much content to watch, and yet a finite amount of time in the day, households argue over what gets consigned to trash.
- 73% of UK respondents record content each week. However, of that recorded content, nearly a quarter is never actually watched (24.4%).
- 42% said they recorded content to skip the parts of the program they didn’t like.
- 47% of those who delete programs before they get around to watching them say the reason they delete programs is because they are no longer interested; 22% saw the content elsewhere; 22% had to delete to make way for other programs; and 10% plan to get it on demand.
- 68% of UK respondents who had to delete a program from their DVR before watching it said that having to delete programs to make space has caused frustration in the home.
- Consumers quickly run out of space when it comes to recording TV programs. 46% have had to delete or move old TV programs and films to make space for new content. 45% said they would like to use a cloud service to store their entertainment.
- 29% of UK respondents say they’d like to be able to record three or more programs at the same time. One in five respondents (20%) would be prepared to pay for that service.
- 17% of UK respondents said that they would swap to a different service provider or complete the sign up to a provider if they could store their content remotely. In addition, 18% said they would be prepared to pay for this service.
- 54% of those interested in such a service would willingly be shown a few ads in exchange for a free storage solution to save their content.
About The ARRIS Consumer Entertainment Index
ARRIS’s Consumer Entertainment Index is a research project looking into the media consumption habits of 10,500 consumers across 19 markets: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Russia, Spain, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey, UK, and USA. The research was conducted on behalf of ARRIS by independent agency, Vanson Bourne.
This research is focused on media content consumption on multiple devices. The aim of the study was to develop both a global and regional understanding of what content was coming into homes and how it was being consumed, how viewing habits were evolving, and trends service providers should seek to support both now and in the future.
To access the report, go to: www.arrisi.com/arriscei