New research from Attest on U.S. media consumption indicates that Americans have some very definite opinions on how Netflix should be changing its service, with the largest number of current subscribers saying they would switch to Netflix with ads if it were free and 40% saying they would like Netflix to begin offering new episodes on a weekly basis rather than offering all of them at once.
Attest’s researchers found the largest number of current subscribers want it for free, with 19.9% saying they would switch if it were free followed by 17.3% who say they won’t switch. Of respondents who would be willing to pay for a discounted subscription, most would be willing to pay $5-6 per month (15.5%), followed by $9-10 (12.7%) and $7-8 (11.2%).
The survey also indicated that subscription tiering may be a zero-gain game for Netflix. When Attest asked non-subscribers their thoughts on the introduction of ad-supported tiering, it found that Netflix may add some new subscribers, but at the cost of existing subscribers also downgrading their current subscription, meaning a negligible net gain in revenue. For example, pricing this new subscription tiering at $5-6 would persuade 18.9% of non-subscribers to sign up, but it would also encourage 15.5% of existing subscribers to switch to this cheaper price point.
The survey also found that consumers would like a shift to weekly episode drops. Netflix once pioneered releasing entire series all at once, allowing viewers to “binge” at their convenience. With reports that it might be shifting away from this model to release episodes on a more traditional weekly basis, a majority (40.1%) said they would singly support such a move.
Password sharing still appears to be an issue with the Attest survey findings indicating that one in five (22.6%) rely on using an account paid for by someone else.
Attest also released its Q3 US Media Consumption Tracker Results, which found that it was a summer of growth for all forms of media.
Other key trends from the report include:
- Attest’s research found that YouTube TV made the biggest gains of all the TV streaming services in Q.3. The platform increased weekly U.S. users by +6 percentage points to 23.0%. This could grow further following the launch of a new mix-and-match offering that means users don’t have to pay $64.99 a month for the YouTube TV Base Plan.
- Despite plans to shut down HBO Max as a standalone platform next year, it saw a 4.8 percentage point uplift to 32.6%, assisted by the popularity of its "Game of Thrones" prequel "House of the Dragon", which was the most-named show of the quarter. HBO Max and Discovery+ will merge into one platform next summer.
- The growth that Disney+ enjoyed in Q2 has eased off in Q3. Netflix also remained more or less static but it still holds the title of the nation’s most popular streaming platform, watched by 70.1% of people weekly. By contrast, Amazon Prime grew 4.4 percentage points to 47.3%, joining Hulu in second place (47.2%).
- Viewing time for subscription TV was modestly trending up, with Americans most likely to say they watch between 1-2 hours per day (30.9%). Viewing time is also on the up for free on-demand TV, although a lesser 22.5% of people watch it for 1-2 hours per day (and 34.4% don’t watch it at all).
- Live TV also saw a +4.4 percentage point increase in regular viewers: 77.7% of Americans say they watched at least some live TV each day. This is most likely to be between 1-2 hours.
- All of the 9 social platforms Attest measured showed growth. Twitter bounced back, increasing users overall by +6.9 percentage points to 56.5% and upping weekly users by 8.8 percentage points to 42.5%. This allowed it to overtake Pinterest and reclaim 6th position, although Snapchat still sits ahead at number 5.
- Americans are most likely to spend 1-2 hours (24.1%) a day on social media. A further 18.3% spend 3-4 hours.
- TikTok saw the biggest growth of all social media platforms. The platform increased US usership by +8.3 percentage points to 68.1%. Those visiting it weekly grew by +9.5 percentage points to 55.5% (including 34.6% who visit the platform daily).
- Instagram also performed well, expanding U.S. users numbers by +7.5 percentage points to 71.9%, and increasing weekly users by 9.7 percentage points to 60.9%.
- Attest also analyzed social media newcomer BeReal for the first time. The platform has been designed to combat the superficiality of regular social media by requiring users to take photos at different times each day - regardless of what they’re doing at that moment. It found that only 15.2% of Americans are using the platform currently, with 11% using it frequently.
- All forms of news media enjoyed a positive quarter. Digital magazines chalked up a +6.5 percentage point increase in readers to 63.9%, with 33.0% of people accessing them weekly (+5.7pp). Readership of printed magazines also grew by +4.9 percentage points to 68.5%. This is alongside a 3.6 percentage point increase in people reading on a weekly basis (to 29.7%). Finally, news websites and apps saw a +4.5 percentage point increase in users (to 82.0%) and a +6 percentage point uplift in Americans accessing them weekly (to 59.7%).
- Printed newspapers even saw a surprise boost in Q3. They grew readers by +6.6 percentage points to 61.6% - that’s the highest the figure has been all year. Reading frequency also increased, with 32.1% of people (+6 pp) picking up a printed newspaper at least once a week.
- Subscriptions to news media also grew this quarter. Following a +3.1 percentage point increase, 40.0% of Americans have at least one paid-for content subscription (either print or digital).
