Where is All This Live Streaming Video Content?
Where is all this live streaming video content happening? Subscription-based platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu are all big players, featuring old favorites, new release movies and series, as well as tons of original content, ready to take your subscription money and delight you.
So, subscription-based services are hot. How hot? Some 43 percent of U.S. watch video through a subscription (we subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO – WTH?) and 41 percent of global consumers of video access it via subscription.
Social Networks Are Big Live Streaming Video Channels
Social nets are huge when it comes to finding and live streaming video content. If you spend any time at all on Facebook, chances are good you’re seeing more and more videos and more and more invitations to watch more episodes of a particular show on Facebook Watch. That is no accident. Facebook wants as much of your time and attention as you’ll give it, and these video show offerings will continue to grow at a rapid pace.
If my tweens are any indication, YouTube is one of the biggest and fastest growing social networks for consuming live streaming video content. My girls watch all kinds of things on YouTube, including makeup tutorials, comedy shows, product reviews, and honestly I am not sure I even want to know the rest. When I asked them the other day what social networks they found the most important to them, their response was swift: Snapchat and YouTube. I think that pretty much says it all.
Note that in the U.S., social platforms account for only 40 percent of video live streaming, while globally, they represent more than 52 percent of the consumption. Asian markets lead the way in video content creation and consumption, and that is not likely to change.
Video Live Streaming via TV Network Site or App
When it comes to video live streaming via a TV or network site or app, HBO and Showtime fall into the category, but I believe they belong more in the subscription category. These days, you can subscribe to only HBO, just like you can subscribe to only Netflix, so I think including these sites/apps here skews the numbers. That said, some 32 percent of consumers report streaming live video using a TV network site or app.
Gaming Site or App
I have tween girls, and my girls are not gamers, nor is anyone else in our household, so video live streaming via a gaming site or app is pretty much off my radar screen. Not so with 28 percent of U.S. respondents to this survey and 33 percent globally.
The Fate of TV
Note the numbers at the bottom? Those who access video live streaming content via a TV service provider or app? Yes, that’s pretty much at rock bottom and likely to get lower. In my living room, kids are as likely to each be sitting on a sofa with a device or laptop in hand, consuming content that’s interesting to them personally rather than turning the TV on. When I turn the TV on, I head straight to Netflix, Amazon, or HBO, and haven’t watched even the local news on TV in longer than I can even think of.
So there you have it. The trends in video live streaming. What’s happening in your household? Does it mirror what’s reported here? I’d love to know.
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”
