Americans are spending slightly more than $70 per month on broadband video services in order to satiate their entertainment needs, according to the latest video trends report released by Xperi’s TiVo this week.
The data point reflects a 26 percent jump from the $56 per month Americans said they were spending on broadband-only video services two years ago, according to data reported by TiVo and evaluated by The Desk.
The data points evaluate consumer spending and television consumption habits and overall sentiment during the last three months of 2023 when compared to the same quarter over two years.
Price increases are the main reason why the average household spending on streaming video services have gone up. Some households have switched to ad-supported subscription plans that are cheaper in price in order to lower their overall costs. Around 62 percent of consumers surveyed by TiVo said they reduced their entertainment spending due to economic inflation and other price considerations during Q4 2023, up slightly from the 61 percent who affirmed the same in 2022.
The average household uses slightly more than 11 video services for their entertainment needs, TiVo said. The metric reflects subscription (SVOD), premium ad-supported (AVOD) and free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services alike, as well as cable, satellite and cable-like streaming services. By comparison, consumers said they had slightly fewer than nine video services during Q4 2021 and a little more than six services during Q4 2020.
“The number of sources has seemingly topped out and consumers, especially those from high-income households, have become increasingly cost conscious,” a TiVo spokesperson wrote in the report. “From scaling back their spend on video and more frequently evaluating their budgets to reducing paid services, consumer behavior has shifted in response to ongoing economic concern and growing frustration with content discovery.”
Twenty percent of people surveyed by TiVo say they feel there are too many services on the market, and the overwhelming choice is impacting how consumers feel about the quality of their options. Sixty-five percent of consumers surveyed by TiVo said they felt SVOD services were of “moderate to very good quality,” or 9 percent fewer than the number of consumers who said the same one year prior. AVOD and FAST services have the lowest quality perception at 60 percent, followed by traditional pay TV at 67 percent. Virtual pay TV services, which include Fubo, YouTube TV and Sling TV, have the highest quality perception at 76 percent, TiVo said.
While Americans may feel that streaming quality has deteriorated, they’re not easing off their use of those services. TiVo says the average number of hours spent watching television increased slightly to 4.7 hours by the end of 2023, up from 4.4 hours reported in 2022. Consumers are increasingly shifting toward streaming cable-like services and AVOD/FAST platforms, according to TiVo, which saw an increase in usage over the same 12 months. That said, SVOD platforms remain dominant, with 30 percent of survey participants affirming their use of an SVOD product like Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus or Max over the past year.
