A study from Hub Entertainment Research is warning that streaming providers face congestion as the proliferation of video services has left viewers with what it calls a “vast ocean’ of options to choose from.
The research note acknowledges that streaming marketers have done a good job of driving awareness with even the newest platforms boast brand awareness of more than 90%. But it stresses that value propositions are another story as far fewer consumers feel confident they know what makes one subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) brand different from the others. It adds that as viewers feel the pinch of inflation, a reason to keep one provider instead of others becomes more and more important.
Hub found that by January 2023, 41% of respondents said in the past year they had signed up for a new streaming service just to watch one show (up from 35% in 2021). This was an even bigger factor among the most valuable segments: 57% of those under age 35 have signed up to watch one show and among households with kids it’s 54%.
By contrast, the most common reason that people drop a streaming platform is that they “ran out of things to watch”. Massive content budgets were seen a “brute force” method to make sure that didn’t happen, but Hub cautioned that in 2023 providers must do more with less, for example using the brands of key IP.
Offering an example, Hub observed that in January 2023, 29% of respondents said they had watched the programme Yellowstone. Of those, 70% said they had gone on to watch one or more of the shows related to the series – such as direct spinoffs or shows promoted as coming from Taylor Sheridan/the creators of Yellowstone. Hub regards that number as good by any standard, but as especially impressive when considering the effort implied: as Yellowstone can only be watched on cable or Peacock, while all those other shows require a subscription to Paramount+.
“Content has always been king. But as the streaming ecosystem gets more crowded, the role of IP branding on which platforms viewers sign up for and keep is more direct than ever,” remarked Hub principal and founder Jon Giegengack. “And at a time when mitigating churn has become job one for providers, valuable IP will be more valuable than ever.”
Hub found that by January 2023, 41% of respondents said in the past year they had signed up for a new streaming service just to watch one show (up from 35% in 2021). This was an even bigger factor among the most valuable segments: 57% of those under age 35 have signed up to watch one show and among households with kids it’s 54%.
By contrast, the most common reason that people drop a streaming platform is that they “ran out of things to watch”. Massive content budgets were seen a “brute force” method to make sure that didn’t happen, but Hub cautioned that in 2023 providers must do more with less, for example using the brands of key IP.
Offering an example, Hub observed that in January 2023, 29% of respondents said they had watched the programme Yellowstone. Of those, 70% said they had gone on to watch one or more of the shows related to the series – such as direct spinoffs or shows promoted as coming from Taylor Sheridan/the creators of Yellowstone. Hub regards that number as good by any standard, but as especially impressive when considering the effort implied: as Yellowstone can only be watched on cable or Peacock, while all those other shows require a subscription to Paramount+.
“Content has always been king. But as the streaming ecosystem gets more crowded, the role of IP branding on which platforms viewers sign up for and keep is more direct than ever,” remarked Hub principal and founder Jon Giegengack. “And at a time when mitigating churn has become job one for providers, valuable IP will be more valuable than ever.”
