Study: Low Consumer Interest in Transactional VOD

2 Dec, 2013 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Just 9% of Internet consumers would pay to rent a select movie or episodic program on a connected TV

Consumer demand for renting movies and TV shows on connected devices, including television, remains low despite home entertainment’s transition to digital distribution, according to a new study.

Just 10% of 1,200 respondents in a Nov. 15 survey conducted by Frank N. Magid said they would pay to watch a specific movie or episodic TV program on a laptop or computer. Another 9% said they would do so on a connected TV; 8% on a smartphone and 7% on a tablet.

The results do not include transactional VOD movies found on multichannel video program dsitributors such as cable, satellite and telecommunications. Respondents accessed movies and TV shows via apps, websites and related video services.

The majority of respondents (51% to 63%) said they preferred to stream or watch TV shows and movies for free with commercials no longer than 30 seconds each — which is par with broadcast TV. Most (63%) said they would do so on a tablet, with the least (51%) opting for a connected TV.

Another 30% to 40% of respondents said they preferred to pay a subscription fee (i.e. SVOD) to watch video programming without ads.

Meanwhile, 54% and 44% of respondents, respectively, said they would stream movies or TV shows in the home on a connected TV or computer. Another 22% and 25%, respectively, would do so out of the home on a connected tablet or smartphone.

The data underscores the reality that subscription streaming such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime Instant Video is growing, consumers remain largely indifferent to transactional VOD overall despite its availability on all multichannel video program distribution outlets.

Indeed, transaction VOD revenue increased less than 3% to $468 million in the third quarter, according to DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. Meanwhile, eMarketer.com believes that 91.4 million domestic Internet users viewed either streamed or downloaded movies at least monthly in 2013, while 120.7 million did the same with TV shows.

 

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