Around three-fourths of U.S. consumers still subscribe to traditional pay-TV services, and two-thirds of those homes do it because the video products are bundled with their broadband service, according to a new Deloitte survey.
Polling 2,131 U.S. consumers in November for its Digital Democracy Survey, the consulting firm was able to distill a little more truth and coherence about a quickly transforming video marketplace that’s very distractible. (The report is subscription-only, but Deadline Hollywood obtained a copy.)
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The vastly changed reality is most expressed in today’s teenagers, the 14-19 group labeled as “Generation Z.” Deloitte’s survey found that only 18% of them think television significantly influences their purchasing decisions.
The number goes up to only 25% for millennials (ages 20-33).
Deloitte also found that 99% of Gen Z consumers report multitasking while they watch TV, doing an average of four different things at once.
And they’re not just tuning out linear TV. About 83% of all consumers polled in the survey said they skip online video ads when they are able to. Around 67% say the majority of mobile video ads they see aren’t relevant to their lives.
Around 45% of millennials polled said they use ad-blocking software.
“Many companies might discover that TV ads are no longer the most effective avenue for getting through to some audiences,” Deloitte concludes in its report. “Enlisting online influencers and creating social buzz might matter more.”
Meanwhile, 40% of consumers polled said TV was their primary source for news, down from 57% when Deloitte conducted its survey in 2012. Social media was cited as a primary news outlet by 19% of respondents, up from just 4% in 2012.