Stream Shift: Deloitte Surveys Media Consumption
Deloitte recently revealed emerging new patterns of media consumption when releasing its ninth Digital Democracy Survey.
The survey was broken up into five age groups: Trailing Millennials (age 14-25), Leading Millennials (age 26-31), Generation X (age 32-48), Baby Boomers (age 49-67), and Matures (age 68+).
The results show digital viewing has surpassed traditional broadcast and cable viewing, as well as specific trends in the population's viewing techniques, preferences and attentiveness.
- Viewers are moving towards digital streaming, and away from cable television.
- Live broadcast viewing makes up only 45% of subjects' total view time (Trailing Millennials watch only 28%, and Matures watch 68%).
- 56% of viewers currently stream movies (vs. watch via broadcast).
- 53% of viewers currently stream television programs (vs. watch via broadcast).
- Interest in maintaining paid television service continues to drop since 2012.
- 73% of viewers said they multitask more during television ads than during digital ads (81% among Trailing Millennials, 53% among Matures).
"Personal viewing experiences and the ability to consume media at your own pace is significantly impacting how U.S. consumers value their content devices and services,” said Gerald Belson, Vice Chairman of Deloitte LLP. "Today, binge-watching, and the ability to watch what we want, when we want, and where we want, is an exciting cultural phenomenon that is shifting consumer behaviors and attitudes towards curating an individual experience.”
As our technology advances, so have our consumption habits. Trailing Millennials have been the fastest to embrace these changes, while the remaining viewers surveyed have been slower to adjust.
What do we make of all this?
We know that as viewers trend towards digital media, they are paying closer attention to the digital commercials they see, and those web plays may increase (by how much, we have yet to see).
The music royalty industry needs to get our butts in gear to reflect these shifts in policy and technology. As consumer demand moves toward digitized media streaming, we must meet them full force by recognizing (and compensating) digital music performances.
We're not quite there yet. The Songwriter Equality Act, and the U.S. Copyright Office's report released last February show we're working towards that demand, but still have a ways to go.