According to Parks Associates, streaming video viewership has increased during the COVID-19 outbreak. A survey of 10,000 broadband households, fielded between March 8 and April 3 to 10,000 U.S. heads of broadband households, indicates that 76% of U.S. broadband households subscribe to an over-the-top (OTT) video service, increasing by roughly 6 million households since Q1 2019.
Parks research also indicates that adoption of online pay TV services such as YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, and Sling TV has increased to 12% of U.S. broadband households.
"We are closely tracking shifts in technology use at home, as shelter-in-place orders have continued as a result of COVID-19," said Steve Nason, research director, Parks Associates. "Consumers are experimenting with watching video on different services and different devices. We anticipate a number of changes to occur, including higher consumption combined with reduced spending per month on services, which could boost ad-based services, as well as shifts in what content consumers are watching."
Reelgood, an aggregator for streaming sources, also follows shifts in preferred genres and content consumption. New data tracking Reelgood's 4.8 million OTT users from March 16 to April 26 indicates that during that time, following widespread stay-at-home mandates, viewers exhibited significant shifts in preferred genres and shows.
"One of the biggest shifts - and opportunities - that we're noticing is the massive spike in children's content available to stream," said Catharine Burhenne, head of marketing, Reelgood. "The entertainment businesses who thrive during the COVID and post-COVID eras will be the ones who can cater their offerings to accommodate the huge appetite for streaming kids content. Tubi's launch of their app Tubi Kids is an example of businesses capitalizing on this opportunity."