Consumers Finding Extra TV Content Online

NPD Group’s Entertainment Trends in America research report finds that “many consumers are supplementing their pay television offerings from cable TV, satellite TV and IPTV operators.” In short, the study finds that subscribers are searching for additional programing and steaming movies from both paid (Netflix) and free sites (Hulu, YouTube).

Results also show that 27% of all U.S. television subscribers (cable, satellite or IPTV)  subscribe to Netflix and almost half (46%) also pay for a premium movie or sports channel.

“Even though many consumers are paying for more content from their TV-service providers in the form of premium channels and video-on-demand, there’s still quite a lot of alternative video downloading and streaming activity going on,” said Russ Crupnick, senior VP and entertainment analyst for The NPD Group. “There may also be too much emphasis on so-called ‘cord cutters’ who represent a small group, as opposed to potential ‘cord throttlers,’ who are a massive segment of the subscribing population.”

Three out of four (73 percent) consumers who used Netflix, streamed video for free, or who paid for Internet-video downloads and rentals also have a cable, satellite, or IPTV subscription. “With all the various methods consumers now have to download video, TV-service providers would be in a better competitive position if they could expand their content offerings and improve on-screen search functionality,” Crupnick suggested.

The Entertainment Trends in America report is based on 10,058 completed surveys from qualified respondents (age 13 and older) conducted in July and August 2011. Final survey data was weighted to represent U.S. population.