The world is full of streaming video services and consumers are increasingly willing to use three or more, but that doesn’t always mean they’re paying for them all.
According to a new survey conducted by the Leichtman Research Group, 82% of U.S. households have at least one streaming video service from 11 top SVODs services and 51% of all households have three or more of these services. The firm found that 69% of all direct-to-consumer services are fully paid for and are not shared with others outside the household. However, 27% of all SVOD services are used in more than one household.
Leichtman broke down its findings even further: 13% of services are used and paid for by those that also share them with someone outside the household; 12% of services are used in one household but are borrowed from another household that is paying for the service; 2% of services are used by multiple households that share costs; and 4% of all SVOD services are not paid for because they come with another service.
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“Password sharing is prevalent throughout the streaming video industry. Over a quarter of DTC streaming video services are shared with others outside the household, including 12% of all services that are ‘borrowed’ from someone else’s subscription,” said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, in a statement. “Yet, sharing of streaming services should not solely be viewed as lost revenue, as the ability to share with others is also part of the retention strategy for the services.”
Leichtman’s survey also suggested that 16% of all households have at least one SVOD service that is fully paid for by someone else, and that 26% of adults ages 18-34 have at least one SVOD service that is fully paid for by someone else – compared to 12% of ages 35 and older.
Leichtman said the findings are based on an online survey of 6,262 households from throughout the United States and are part of a its new study, Internet-Delivered Pay-TV Services 2021.