More Americans Watch TV on Their Schedules
NEW YORK -- Video on demand. DVRs. Streaming content. Entire seasons of television shows collected in DVD box sets. Americans' TV viewing habits were once at the mercy of network schedules, but now there are more ways than ever to watch shows on one's own schedule -- and Americans are taking advantage.
Fully 78% of Americans responding to a recent Harris Poll have used the varied technologies that enable them to watch TV shows on their schedules, with the top methods being on-demand services (41% total, 34% cable, 9% satellite); TiVo, DVRs or other recording devices (37%), Netflix streaming services (30%), purchasing, renting or borrowing episodes or seasons on DVD (29%) and Hulu or Hulu Plus (22%). And of those who do, 62% confirm that they watch more than one episode of a single TV show at a time -- sometimes called "binge viewing."
Not surprisingly, age plays a major role in having taken advantage of such "own schedule" viewing, with Americans 18 to 39 (89% ages 18 to 29, 90% ages 30 to 39) significantly more likely to have done so than those ages 40 to 54 (78%) – who are in turn more likely to have done so than the 55-plus set (67%).
Perhaps more notably, Americans with children under 18 in the household are more likely than those without to have done so (84% with, 76% without), with the difference driven largely by Netflix streaming content (40% with, 27% without) and Amazon online and streaming content (15% with, 9% without).
Among those who ever watch TV shows on their own schedule, 43% have shows they make a priority to watch before anything else, as soon as they are available. Having such priorities or preferences is again more common among those under 40 (57% ages 18 to 29, 59% ages 30 to 39, 37% ages 40 to 54, 29% ages 55-plus) and among those with children under 18 in the household (49% with, 41% without).
For those with viewing priorities, the top factor in what they set priorities isn't a complicated one -- it's simply those seen as "My favorite/most enjoyable" (81%). Other notable, if less pronounced, factors include "I can't wait to find out what happens next" (53%) and "It depends on how much time I have to watch" (42%), followed by "I don't want to get behind and risk plot points being spoiled" (37%) and "It depends on my mood" (34%).
Among those watching on their own schedules, 62% binge view. Both new and old shows contribute to this, with 50% binging on older shows or past seasons of current shows and 40% binging on current seasons of shows.
Eighteen to 39 year olds (78% ages 18 to 29, 73% ages 30 to 39) are more likely than those 40 and older (58% 40 to 54, 48% ages 55-plus) to binge view, with 40 to 54-year-olds also more likely to do so than the 55-plus set. Those with children under 18 in the household are more likely than those without to binge view current seasons of shows (48% with, 37% without).
Nearly three-fourths of binge viewers report television as the device they most often find themselves binge viewing on, followed distantly by computers (22%). However, a different story emerges among 18- to 29-year-olds, among whom televisions (50%) and computers (42%) are in much closer contention.
Among those who binge view, 28% are doing so more now than a year ago; 52% are doing so the same amount and 20% are doing so less.
SOURCE: Harris Poll.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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