M+E Daily

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns that accompanied it drove significant changes in the video consumption habits of U.S. and Canadian viewers, according to the TiVo Q4 2020 Video Trends Report it released Wednesday.

More than 4,500 viewers were surveyed during the fourth quarter of last year for the report, which found that 25% of respondents added at least one new video subscription as a result of COVID-19, while 15% of respondents canceled at least one video subscription as a result of the pandemic.

“Combine this stay-at-home ‘COVID’ lifestyle, a deluge of new” over-the-top (OTT) streaming “offerings with no cancellation limitations, parents’ undying need to entertain their children, and others simply running out of things to watch, and you’ve got a fantastic recipe for service-hopping,” the report said.

“Simultaneously, others have found themselves in tough financial straits, short on time or simply wanting to replace their current services with something new,” TiVo said.

When respondents were asked about “subscription-hopping” due specifically to COVID-19, 63% cited being home more and having more time to watch content as the top reason why they added subscriptions. That reason was followed by: a deal or special offer (38%), a specific show or movie they wanted to watch (36%), the need to entertain kids (26%), running out of content to watch on other services (19%) and needing new ways to keep up with the news (11%).

On the other hand, when asked why they canceled subscriptions, the top reason cited was household income being affected by the pandemic, at 45%. It was followed by: tightening budgets just in case (39%), a realization they weren’t watching those services enough (35%), no time to watch them now (28%), watching everything they wanted to watch on those services (26%),  wanting to switch to a different video service instead (17%) and sports not being played (10%).

Netflix benefited most from the subscription-hopping, with 14% of respondents saying they added it during the pandemic. But it was also the service that the most respondents said they canceled during the pandemic, at 7%. In comparison, 9% added Disney Plus and 4% canceled it, and Amazon Prime Video and Hulu were tied, with 8% adding each of them and 5% canceling each of them.

More Data

The average North American viewer, meanwhile, used about seven different video services and the average pay-TV viewer still watched more than 4 hours of video content a day.

Among the other key findings of the report: 79% of survey respondents said they would rather use free, ad-supported streaming than subscribe to another paid service; 83% of survey respondents said viewing local content was important (a 10% increase since 2019); 74% of broadband-only subscribers indicated viewing local content was important to them (a 12% increase from the prior year); and 98% of respondents said they felt recommendations from their subscription streaming services were “sometimes” or “always” relevant.

TV commercials/ads, meanwhile, remained the most popular medium by which people learned about new shows and movies, ahead of  “word of mouth,” social media and other ways, TiVo said.

During the pandemic, the film studios released new movies directly to streaming services, the report noted. Twenty-nine percent of survey respondents said they were interested in paying to watch a new movie release at home rather than going to a theater during the pandemic, while 31% said they would be interested in this option even after the pandemic ends, TiVo said. About half of respondents were not interested in paying to watch new movie releases at home, either now (51%) or after the COVID-19 crisis subsides (45%).

Meanwhile, more than 40% of survey respondents reported that, even after the pandemic subsides, they will participate less in potentially crowded activities including going to the movies, eating at restaurants indoors, going to the mall or attending concerts.

Accelerating the New Norm

“The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the day-to-day lives for billions of people across the globe,” the report noted, adding: “Social interaction and the work-life balance has fundamentally changed; the way we watch and discover video is no exception. Trapped during lockdowns or working from home, people continue to lean heavily on video services as a primary source of news and entertainment. Local programming (particularly local news) has proven to be increasingly important during this year full of lockdowns, outbreaks, new laws and new crises. In parallel, choice is at an all-time high for viewers as new ‘over-the-top’ (OTT) streaming services are launched with the goal of global reach. As a result, people just can’t seem to get enough.”

And, “as the pandemic rages on, shifting consumer patterns in the video service landscape are proving to be more than mere anomalies,” TiVo said. “People are adjusting to a new normal— and that new normal means big, exciting changes for the video market.”

Turning to viewing by genre, the report noted that, “as one might expect in 2020, news was ranked most important TV genre by survey respondents,” with 58% saying they viewed that content. Not noted in the report was that 2020 was not only the year of the pandemic, but also a presidential election year.

However, “other spikes seen early in pandemic lockdowns—the brief increase in popularity of animation and kids shows, for example—have largely subsided” by Q4, the report said, explaining: “As with most years, comedy, action, drama and crime top the charts for both TV shows and movies. Each of these popular content genres were important to pay-TV viewers before the pandemic. Now, the distraction provided by their engrossing narratives is more important than ever.”

Meanwhile, “seasonal changes have been consistent as well—by Fall 2020, horror movie popularity had increased by 10 percent since the beginning of the year,” according to TiVo.

“While sports viewership took a major hit due COVID-19-related event cancellations, 42 percent of survey respondents indicate they still highly value sports TV programming,” the report said.