David Farnor | On 10, Oct 2017

Thanks to the rise of VOD, audiences today have access to more content than ever, but with a more fragmented market, they are struggling to find something to watch.

The average number of on-demand services used per household has increased from 1.6 in 2013 to 3.8 in 2017, as the number of services available expands – and so does viewer interest. But content discovery remains a challenge. The total average time searching for content has risen from 45 to 51 minutes per day, according to new research by Ericsson. Interestingly, scheduled linear TV accounts for this entire increase, as searches on VOD services have remained constant since last year. 

That means that over 50 per cent of typical VOD users, who watch things online across a range of devices, can’t find anything to watch on scheduled linear TV at least once a day. Just over 30 per cent, meanwhile, say the same thing about VOD services. Millennials spend over 50 per cent more time searching on VOD services than those aged 35 and up, and they spend over 80 per cent more time watching VOD content. 

Even in well-established content areas such as sports, consumers see room for improvement – one in three sports viewers thinks it takes too much effort to find the sporting events they like on TV. 

For this growing group of advanced users, the old-fashioned TV guide does not help. And content is more important than ever over 70 per cent of consumers agree that content and price remain at the top of their priority list when evaluating new TV services. Three in four Netflix subscribers say the most important factor is access to exclusive original content.

Need a better TV guide for the online age? VODzilla.co provides comprehensive coverage of what’s available to stream on both pay-per-view and subscription services, from listings and news to reviews and interviews. Want recommendations? Follow our #FilmoftheDay hashtag every day for a fresh pick from Amazon Prime Video, Netflix UK or NOW. For curation and other information, see our dedicated Netflix UK channel for reviews, highlights, plus what’s new and coming soon. We also have one for Amazon Prime Video, and NOW, plus a weekly guide to what’s new and coming soon to MUBI, Day and Date reviews for which cinema releases are available and where, and a fortnightly Shudder column, which handpicks titles from the site’s catalogue. Oh, and we have a podcast. 

Add to Watchlist