We have become a nation of video streamers.
That’s the upshot of Deloitte’s new national survey of American households: 56% of consumers now stream movies and 53% stream television on a monthly basis, as opposed to 45% who prefer to watch TV live. Overall, streaming video services are now used by more than 42% of U.S. households.
This shift in media consumption is at the heart of the ninth edition of the consulting and services firm’s “Digital Democracy Survey.” Significant also are device preferences: younger viewers ages 14-25, which Deloitte dubs “Trailing Millennials,” prefer their video on computers, tablets and smartphones, spending nearly 60% of their movie-watching time on those mobile devices.
And if you’ve ever felt guilty about binge-watching, that misery has lots of company. More than 68% of those surveyed binge, admitting they’ve watched three more or episodes of a show in one sitting. Of those who binge-watch, 31% do it at least once a week. Yes, “Trailing Millenials” lead this pack as well, at 42%. (Television dramas are most popular.)
We multitask while watching, too. Ninety percent of us. The survey finds on average, those ages 32-48 (call them “Millenials” and “Generation X”) engage in three additional activities while viewing, such as texting, web browsing and reading email.
Deloitte’s study, which also covers sentiments about advertising, gaming, and other digital devices (for example, fitness bands and smart watches), surveyed more than 2,000 consumers in the U.S. ages 14 and older in November 2014.
Gerald Belson, vice chairman of Deloitte and U.S. Media and Entertainment sector leader, says, “the ability to consumer media at your own pace is significantly impacting how U.S. consumers value their content devices and services.” The shift, he says, is toward “curating an individual experience.”