A new survey found that 42% of adult consumers said they’d be willing to spend a maximum of $20 per month on streaming subscription, according to Phenix, a real-time video solution provider.
The study, conducted online, would mean that a big share of people would be limited to one or two streaming subscriptions per person.
Phenix’s Future of Streaming Report found as many as 40% of Americans don’t plan to live stream this year. A big reason for resistance to streaming is delays or buffering, with 12% of those saying they’d be more likely to stream live content if latency wasn’t a consistent issue.
See also: The Future of OTT Streaming
“This year, we saw everyone from platforms to networks to franchises heavily invest in streaming technologies. Even though the industry significantly advanced in 2017, claims of offering real-time capabilities are false and it’s because of major latency issues, especially at scale,” said Stefan Birrer, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Phenix. “‘True-live’ has the potential to be such a key differentiator this year that original content is going to take a back seat to it, despite original content investments from tech giants like Apple and Facebook. In fact, consumers are already feeling a case of ‘content fatigue’ so platforms need to worry less about churning out a new show every week and more about providing consumers with what they want – live streamed content that’s truly live.
The top subscription choices for consumers who want to live stream content in 2018, according to the study, were: Netflix (60%), YouTube (48%), Facebook (38%) and Amazon (37%).
Less popular were Hulu (25%) and Twitter (12%).
“Right now, most platforms that provide ‘live streaming’ capabilities offer either scale or speed, not both. Yet, offering both is the only way to create a real-time experience, as well as the only way for it to be a market differentiator this year and beyond. Once achieved, providers will be in a better position to win more subscribers and reach untapped audiences,” Birrer said.
The study was conducted online by YouGov, with 1,128 adult participating Oct. 25 and 26.
This article originally appeared in Broadcasting & Cable.
