TiVo has released research indicating the average number of video services used by consumers is 9.86, up from 8.8 a year ago and approaching double-digits for the first time in history. The gain is largely due to increased adoption of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services, also known as ad-supported video on demand (AVOD), which account for 32 percent of the overall share of video services used by consumers in 2022, up from 26 percent as of Q4 2021. According to the TiVo Video Trends Report, the average consumer is now using three ad-based video-on-demand services.

Despite inflation and financial pressures, only 25 percent of respondents reported reducing their entertainment spending in 2022, and three in 10 consumers surveyed said they purchased a new smart TV between Q4 2021 and Q2 2022, according to an announcement touting the report.

“While consumers’ willingness to pay for ad-free programming has been an advantage to subscription streaming services in recent years, that trend is now giving way to increased adoption of ad-supported video fueled by a proliferation of free content services or introduction of subscription tiers,” TV Technology reports.

Nonetheless, “a rich-content first experience remains a priority when it comes to discretionary spending,” with about 7 in 10 respondents claiming their video entertainment spending “is a moderate to high priority.”

Other TiVo Video Trends Report highlights include:

• Hopping around: 8 in 10 consumers said they wish their paid service offered an ad-supported free option, but 24.3 percent of AVOD users admitted to only spending three months watching a new AVOD service until moving onto a new option. Moreover, pay-TV subscribers admitted to hopping between AVOD services at more than twice the rate of broadband-only users.
• Too many options: Finding what consumers want to watch continues to be the number-one pain point for the vast majority, as services and content proliferate. Voice control is more popular than ever, with 74 percent of respondents who have access to voice search technology using it to help find content faster.
• In the neighborhood: 59 percent of survey respondents consider local content to be important or very important, with local weather (68 percent), news (65 percent) and sports (36 percent) topping their list of tune-in priorities. Pay-TV subscribers spend 24.6 percent of their viewing time on local content, while broadband-only subscribers spend 16.2 percent of their viewing time watching local content.
• Cord-cutters come back: 25 percent of pay-TV subscribers are reported “Pay-TV Revivers” who once cut the cord and resubscribed. TiVo’s research team points out that pay-TV continues to have a significantly lower churn rate than subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD).

The TiVo Video Trends Report is available for download.

Related:
Netflix’s New Ad Tier Arrives Just in Time, The Motley Fool, 10/24/22
Number of Pay-TV Package Subscribers Drops to 66 Percent, ETCentric, 10/27/22