Over half (56%) of 18-44 year-olds in the UK – around 11.8 million people – currently use someone else’s login details to access a streaming service, a new survey commissioned by LADbible Group has revealed. The LADbible Group “TV Report” reveals the changing nature of TV viewing habits as traditional TV networks and streaming platforms battle it out for UK viewers’ attention against a backdrop of digital disruption, rocketing interest rates and apathy surrounding TV license fees.
According to the report, which highlights the challenges that streaming services face to attract paying subscribers in the face of the growing cost of living crisis, the problem of streamers in convincing younger viewers to play for content in the future appears even bigger. Over 65% of Gen Z viewers (18-24 year-olds) surveyed admit they use someone else’s streaming service login details and are the generation most likely to do so (2.4x more than 35-44 year-olds).
Contrary to some recent surveys, this study also revealed that watching any form of TV content (live/streamed – 44%) is considered second only to music (75%) in terms of most essential activities in the lives of 18-24 year-olds, followed by social media use (37%). Moreover, 18-24 year-olds surveyed spend an average of 2.9 hours per day watching some form of TV content with social media taking up 3.5 hours.
● PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
Nearly three quarters (74%) of 25-44 year-olds do not feel the TV Licence fee represents good value for money – whilst 70% of Gen Z audience surveyed do not know, or cannot identify the correct price of a current regular UK TV licence. The BBC’s entertainment is the genre that those surveyed felt was most valuable to them – nearly double that of sports content – perhaps reflecting the scarcity of football in the corporation’s schedule. News was the third most valued content genre, whilst 40% of 25-34 year-olds cited Facebook as the place they get their news.
Another hot topic surveyed was the issue of Channel 4 privatization and the understanding of the network’s ownership was very mixed. The majority of those surveyed claimed they do not know who owns Channel 4 (37%). Only 13% identified that it is publicly owned by the government, whilst 29% believe it is privately owned, and the remaining 21% consider it part privately and publicly owned.
● OVERWHELMING CHOICE
The survey also demonstrates the seemingly endless choice of where to watch content with 57% of 35-44 year-olds feeling overwhelmed by the number of streaming services and younger viewers also feeling the same (42% of 18-24 year-olds and 55% of 24-34s).
Furthermore, the sheer amount of content to view is also eliciting a similar reaction with 44% of 18-24 year-olds overwhelmed by the amount of TV content available to view (40% of 25-34 year-olds and 38% 35-44 year-olds surveyed agree). This overwhelming choice, along with the plethora of services available had led to many wasted hours searching for video content. In fact, the average UK adult spends over four days a year searching for what to watch.
