A survey of viewers in the United States and the United Kingdom shows that they are not getting enough value from their television and video subscription services and want a more personalised offering. They would apparently even be prepared to pay more and share more personal information to receive a better service.
Seventy per cent of 1,000 viewers surveyed in the United Kingdom were not satisfied with the range of television and video programming that they currently have access to, despite spending an average of £47 a month per household on television, movie and video subscription services.
In order to access the television shows, films and live sports they want to watch on a regular basis, viewers believe they would need to considerably increase the amount they spending to £74 per month or £888 per year.
In the United States, where they spent and average of $86 per month on television and video programming, they were prepared to pay almost half as much again to get their perfect package, if it were available.
The research suggests that the respondents use an average of two subscription television and video services.
In the United Kingdom, 70% of those aged 22-35 had more than one subscription service, compared to 36% of those aged 51-65.
70% of those surveyed in the United Kingdom with at least once service said that despite what they are paying for their various subscriptions, they are still missing out on certain shows that they want to watch.
68% of respondents stated that they would be prepared to pay for a single provider that could package all of their preferred media into a dedicated bundle.
64% said that they would be happy to ditch their current providers if this type of ‘perfect content bundle’ was available.
54% would even be open to receiving more advertising, if they could personalize the products and industries advertised to them.
58% would be prepared to pay per show for the first public view of a particular programming. Of those, on average they said they would pay just over $5 an episode or just over $11 a season.
59% of respondents were prepared to exchange their personal information for a better service. Of them, 33% would do so for a better price, 21% for fewer adverts, and 18% for better quality, such as 4K.
Asked about their favourite television show from the previous 12 months, 44% of those in the United Kingdom said it was on an online service, while 37% said it was on cable or satellite, and only 19% said it was on broadcast terrestrial television. The last number was even lower among those aged 14-35.
“We are in a golden age of content, with massive investment in original programming and new ways to consume it,” said Gary Miles, the chief marketing officer of Amdocs. “Customers are still having to jump between TV applications and content providers to find the programming they want. This is confusing and frustrating.”
Viewers expect to have highly varied, highly personalized viewing options available to them across a number of channels, but through very few providers. Yet most are juggling multiple subscriptions and providers, and still not being able to view everything that they want to watch.
Amdocs, a provider of software and services to communications and media companies, including Sky and BT in the United Kingdom, commissioned the survey, which was conducted by research firm Vanson Bourne.
The research covered 2,500 television, film or video viewers, interviewed in October and November 2018, including 1,000 in the United Kingdom and 1,000 in the United States, sampled equally by age and gender.