An ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) survey of Australians’ use of subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services shows that Netflix is dominating the market.The ACMA survey of 1,505 Australian adults in May and June of this year found that an estimated 3.2 million Australians (17 per cent) watched content via SVOD in the six months to June, and 2.2 million (12 per cent) in the last seven days at June.
The survey distinguishes between “SVOD users”, those who had watched video content via an online subscription service in the six months to June, and “recent SVOD users”, those who had watched video content via an online subscription service in the last seven days at June.
Netflix far and away accounts for the majority of SVOD services used, with an estimated 2.5 million Australians (14 per cent) using Netflix in the six months to June, while among SVOD users, 78 per cent used Netflix in the six months to June, and 88 per cent in the past seven days at June.
In terms of demographics, ACMA states SVOD users are likely to be younger (18 to 34), work full-time, have a degree, live in a household with children (of any age), have an income of $100,000+ per year and own an Apple TV.
ACMA found that 34 per cent of people living in a household with children are SVOD users, compared to 17 per cent of those who live in a household with no children.
Being able to watch video content when they want (at a time that suits) was listed by 49 per cent of SVOD users as one of the main benefits of SVOD, with greater choice of content (44 per cent) and lower cost (21 per cent) the other major benefits reported.
Older age groups are less likely to tune into SVOD. Of those aged 18 to 34, 33 per cent tuned into SVOD in the six months to June, compared to 11 per cent of those aged 35 and over, while 25 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 are recent users of SVOD services, compared to eight per cent of those aged 35 and over.
Those aged 18 to 34 account for 58 per cent of SVOD users.
In terms of time spent watching SVOD, recent SVOD users spent an average of eight hours watching SVOD content in the last seven days to June, with those aged 18 to 34 watching almost double the hours of SVOD content (9.9 hours on average) compared to those aged 35 and over (5.2 hours on average).
Television is the most popular screen used for viewing SVOD content, with 59 per cent of recent users accessing SVOD via television, followed by desktop or laptop computers (41 per cent), tablet (21 per cent) and a mobile phone (12 per cent).
As for technical quality of the content, 78 per cent of SVOD users are satisfied, with 40 per cent “very satisfied” and 38 per cent “somewhat satisfied”, however 55 per cent of recent SVOD users had experienced technical problems associated with viewing SVOD content.
