More than a third of consumers (36%) struggled to find something entertaining to watch on the media, while 52% said recommended content does not match their interests, according to Accenture’s Media Thrive Index. The company also explained that 53.8% of users spent more than six minutes on this quest, compared with 49.7% from the previous year. The percentage of consumers spending over 10 minutes searching for new content has now doubled, reaching 30%.
The survey also revealed that 55.9% users expressed frustration at having to pay for multiple platforms to access their desired content, compared with 55.0% a year ago (2022), reflecting sustained frustration levels and an absence of effective responses to these needs. Moreover, 65.5% found it inconvenient to repeatedly enter personal information to access new services.
“Media companies need to get radical and get outside of their comfort zone,” said John Peters, a managing director in Accenture’s Media & Entertainment industry practice. “It is necessary to be bold, whether it means overhauling traditional revenue streams, targeting new audiences, redefining roles within the media value chain or competing in new industries altogether.”
Serial churning has also been highlighted by Accenture. Nearly 60% of consumers are canceling and resubscribing to services based on the availability of desirable content. In 2023, 47% of consumers canceled more subscriptions than the previous year. Adding to this, the company said that two-thirds of consumers consider user-generated content to be as entertaining as traditional forms of media. In all scenarios presented to consumers, such as “when I want something funny” or “when I want to relax,” social media and social video platforms were consistently picked over streaming video services as the media of choice.
Accenture mentioned that some media companies made moves that required low or medium reinvention. For instance, some are increasing their live sports programming. Consumers are spending about 53 minutes per day on live sports content, and almost half (47%) said they spent more time on live sports content this year than last year. Similarly, media companies are forming new content partnerships to increase library scale on their streaming platform. Accenture concluded that these low-to-medium reinvention strategies may have a positive impact on viewership; however, they will not significantly impact a media company’s economic profile or reset its revenue trajectory.
The study also found opportunities for media organizations to expand beyond traditional content offerings, including aggregation platforms and lifestyle bundles. A majority (83%) of consumers said they would be inclined to use a single app to access all their digital services across both media and non-media categories. Additionally, Accenture projects lifestyle bundles to reach $3.5 trillion in consumer spending by 2030 with technology brands better positioned over traditional media brands to be the creators of these bundles.
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