56% of U.S. adults have increased their use of paid streaming services, and the number is expected to rise to 65% among people ages 18-29 and 63% for ages 30-44.
A Transunion survey indicates that 56% of U.S. adults have increased their use of paid streaming services since the pandemic started in March. 45% of respondents stated that they plan on making paid services "a permanent part of their lives” going forward. The research firm surveyed 2,639 U.S. consumers over the age of 18. conducted during the week of May 18 and has a +/- 3% margin of error. The data contradicts a recent Magid survey of U.S. sports viewers 18 to 64, in which viewers said they’re likely to return to less intense streaming habits once live sports programming returns to traditional TV and other platforms.
More than half of respondents reported their usage of a subscription streaming service in place of a traditional cable TV package, but that proportion rises to 65% among those 18 to 29 and 63% among those 30 to 44. Among those 45 to 60 and 60-plus, 46% and 34% use streaming instead of cable TV. The results don't indicate whether these respondents are cord-cutters. However, 35-37% of the two younger segments have both content streaming services and cable TV packages, while 54% and 66% of the two older segments now have both.
Overall, Transunion found 92% of U.S. adults saying that they now subscribe to at least one paid television or audio streaming service. 48% of the report has now subscribed to three to five services, up from 37% before the pandemic. Respondents typically report that their paid streaming services usage has increased from one to two hours per day before the pandemic to three to four hours as of May. Not surprisingly, increased streaming is most pronounced among younger segments.
One-third of all respondents report spending at least five hours daily with streamed media. Smart TV is the most popular streaming device overall, with 37% using the platform. But a quarter of those 18 to 29 prefer mobile devices for streaming, and 19% of those 30 to 44 prefer OTT devices. Those 60 and up show the highest preference for smart TVs (41%), with computers being their second choice, but fully 19% said they don’t stream at all.
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