Audience Inventory 2017: Streaming results
More readers have taken to Netflix & Stan, with Foxtel Now & Amazon trailing some distance behind.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News, Streaming, Top Stories
More of us are agreeing to pay a subscription fee to Streaming services, because Free to Air does not offer enough quality and has too many ads.
The results of the ninth annual TV Tonight Audience Inventory suggest Netflix and Stan increased their subscriber base over the last 12 months.
A year ago 49% of readers were Netflix subscribers, a figure that now rises to 59%. While Stan enjoyed 26% of subscribers it too lifts to 31%. But around a third of readers still do not subscribe to any SVOD.
Newcomers Foxtel Now and Amazon Prime are both sitting under the 10% margin.
Netflix is the only SVOD we regard as an Excellent service, although it should be noted while the majority of readers rated Stan as Not-Applicable, it still fared strongly as Excellent or Very Good.
Pricing, content and device capability are still the biggest deciders in choosing an SVOD service. A new topic on Fast-tracking same day as US / UK was also considered Very Important. There is some division on the value of Australian content between those who seek it and those who are only subscribing to SVOD for international content.
Only 18% of readers indicated they had cancelled or modified their Pay TV due to SVOD services, with an impressive 46% saying their Pay TV subscription was unchanged.
Here are this year’s results, with those that have shifted more than 2% noted below.
* denotes multiple answers allowed
Which of the following do you watch regularly?*
Free to Air Commercial 72%
Free to Air Public Broadcaster 56%
Pay TV 56%
Streaming (subscription) 55%
Community TV 3%
Up: Streaming, Pay TV
Down: Free to Air
Do you currently subscribe to Streaming (SVOD) services?*
Netflix: 59%
Do Not Subscribe 34%
Stan 31%
Foxtel Now 9%
Amazon Prime 7%
Other 5%
hayu 1%
Quickflix 1%
Up: Netflix, Stan
Down: Do Not Subscribe
(NB: Foxtel Now, Amazon are new entries)
Which Foxtel Now package do you subscribe to?*
Don’t Have Foxtel Now 89%
Drama 3%
Premium Sport 3%
Pop 2%
Premium Movies 1%
Lifestyle 1%
Docos 0%
Kids 0%
Do you legally access overseas streaming services?*
No  73%
Netflix 19%
Other 6%
BBC iPlayer 5%
Hulu 3%
Amazon Prime 3%
HBO Now 2%
Up: Netflix
Down: No
Do you buy TV or Movies online such as through Apple TV or iTunes?
No 65%
Yes occasionally 24%
Yes frequently 5%
Yes but just one title 3%
Yes Movies 3%
Up: Yes occasionally
Down: No
Reasons for accessing Streaming TV *#
Free to Air does not offer enough quality 38%
Free to Air has too many ads 33%
I do not subscribe to SVOD 31%
I want access to their exclusive shows 29%
Free to Air does not stick to a consistent schedule 24%
Free to Air does not offer enough quantity 16%
Free to Air does not play series in full 15%
Pay TV is too expensive 14%
Illegal downloading is now too risky 4%
Other 3%
Cannot get Pay TV installed in my residence 1%
What criteria is important to you in selecting a Streaming service?*Â (result denotes majority of responses)
VERY IMPORTANT
Affordable price
Amount of content
Range of content
Works well with my devices
No lock-in contract
High Definition
Same day as US / UK
Unmetered downloads
Ability to binge
Exclusive content
IMPORTANT
Movies
Trusted brand
Trying with free trial first
Australian content (tie)
SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT
None
UNIMPORTANT
Australian content (tie)
NO OPINION
Other
Word of mouth
Up: Australian content
Down: Trying with free trial first, Word of mouth
Rate the Streaming services you have tried*Â (result denotes majority of responses)
EXCELLENT
Netflix
VERY GOOD
None
OK
None
DISAPPOINTING
None
TERRIBLE
None
NOT APPLICABLE
hayu
Quickflix
Amazon Prime
Presto
Foxtel Now
Stan
Down: Stan
Have SVOD services made you change your Pay TV subscription?#
No my Pay TV is unchanged 46%
I have not subscribed to Pay TV 34%
Yes I downgraded my Pay TV subscription 12%
Yes I cancelled my Pay TV subscription 6%
Other 2%
All results have been rounded.
# denotes question variation from 2016 survey making trends unable to be compared
There were 1003 surveys completed.
Tomorrow: Pay TV results
7 Responses
Shouldn’t Foxtel Now be compared to the Presto and Foxtel Play numbers?
Where do people find the time to watch all of this?
Netflix are always adding content but not all of it is new or top quality, there’s also a growing number of foreign language shows for international audiences but overall the price is still reasonable value. Amazon is still developing as a competitor and Stan is in need of a UHD update to be a more attractive viewing partner with Netflix. The streaming market is growing fast so this survey will need to be done yearly especially if Disney or Apple offer original productions too. Price of course will be a factor for viewers so opt in and opt out plans allow viewers with a budget more choice, however, the Apple plan to have $40 new release movies from the studios is a ridiculous proposition and shows how out of touch some in the entertainment industry are.
Really is that Apples plan, seems weird when on Fetch TV or Google Play you can buy something right now as a new release like Wonder Woman, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 and etc., for $19.99 or rent it for $5:99 (2 day watch window). Can even get it cheaper if you go for the bundle with Superman vs Superman at $30:99 for both, if you’re patient and wait a month you canusually rent it for $3:99 (and have a week to watch)
Apple already charges similar prices to Google etc. Those higher prices could be for 4k movies which none of the services currently offer for sale.
It could also the much discussed rental fee for new release in-cinema titles.
Thanks and that makes more sense, if you can buy what is on at the Cinema at the time via the services then I’m all for that as it’s consumers choice. and $40 is still reasonable if you own when you take out the cinema price. Actually what I would like to see is CInemas do something similar as the Music Industry has done with Vinyl and that’s have a code in with the purchase that allows you to download a digital copy. If companies like Apple and etc., go ahead with in-cinema releases then the time would be right for that to happen so as Cinemas can compete with it. Would have to have two types of ticket prices though, so people can just go and view a film plus a view and download priced ticket.
Interesting results again.
I balance it between Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime basically losing the I must watch it now attitude lately and say like Better Call Saul that came weekly to Stan I wait until it’s all there and then watch (same with Mr Robot). So will watch what I want on Netflix wait for Stan to get all episodes on and then switch over (cancel one), of course that is balanced with iView, SBS On-Demand, plus hiring movies and shows off either Fetch TV or Google Play.
Amazon Prime will come in again when The Man in the High Castle comes back and likely will replace which ever one of Stan and Netflix I have at the time (only do the US$8.99/AU$11:22 monthly Amazon one). Have on occassions used the $6 pm Fetch TV packages, generally the Knowlege (NatGeo etc) and Variety (BBC First etc), but still find the content lacking and often repeated, much like Foxtel.