Infographic: How Netflix, The ABC & SBS Dominate Australia’s Streaming Wars

Source: B&TMagazine 01 February 2018

While Netflix dominates, new research shows that ABC iview and SBS On Demand are the other significant contributors to the growth of streaming services in Australia.

Check out the full findings in the infographic below.

According to new research into Australia’s streaming habits, almost seven in ten Australians (69 per cent) have watched Netflix, while close to six-in-ten (57 per cent) have used iview and more than half (52 per cent) have tuned in to SBS On Demand.

The research – undertaken by Stable Research on behalf of Switch Media – found the highest uptake of ABC and SBS is from older Australians, with 70 per cent and 67 per cent of over 65-year-olds watching iview and On Demand respectively.

Other findings of the research showed:

– Australians have used an average of 4.3 streaming services.

– The typical Netflix viewer is younger (with 96 per cent of 18-24-year-olds having used the service) and of a female skew (74 per cent of all female respondents).

– Netflix, ABC, and SBS are viewed as providing the best overall user experience with 97 per cent, 93 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively, of their audiences rating their experience above average.

– Close to half (39 per cent) of consumers use a laptop or desktop to watch streamed content, 34 per cent use an Apple iPad, and 30 per per cent use an iPhone. The Smart TV was close behind at 28 per cent.

– While a benefit of streaming is that it can be viewed while out and about, only 14 per cent watch streamed content on public transport and six per cent watch while travelling in the car.

– The most popular place to watch streamed content is the living room (86 per cent), followed by the bedroom (57per cent), while 15 per cent viewed streamed content while in the bathroom or on the toilet.

Switch Media co-founder and CEO, Christopher Stenhouse, said the research of consumer behaviour (based on more than 1,000 Australians) not only gave valuable insight into what services consumers were watching but how they are watching it.

“Being still in the relatively early days of streaming, with new players likely to emerge and new devices becoming available further changing how people view content, this research highlights some trends are emerging,” Mr Stenhouse said.

“From our research findings, it’s clear that audiences will experiment with various streaming services, however the most popular and sustainable services will be those that have the best content and user experience including benefits such as seamless ad transitions and content recommendations,” Stenhouse said.

“We are also seeing that Australians are increasingly becoming ‘binge’ watchers. While most consumers (80 per cent) use streamed content as a tool to catch up on programs they’ve missed, 60 per cent are also using it to ‘binge’ watch an entire TV series.

“Cramming an entire original series into a weekend or even one night is definitely becoming a popular pastime with consumers of all ages.”

The figures also show that on average, consumers stream on two and a half different devices.

“This was fairly consistent across most age groups and is a testament to our increasing tech-savvy population,” Stenhouse said.