While streaming wars in the U.S. heat up, opportunities for over-the-air growth emerge as well, according to Horowitz
The over-the-air market has been gaining ground, according to Horowitz's OTA: The New TV Growth Story 2019 report.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., Nov. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- With this week's release of Disney+ and other big-name players like HBO Max and Peacock on the horizon, the streaming wars dominate conversations about how the TV industry is evolving. Meanwhile, another disruptor has been quietly gaining ground: The over-the-air market. According to Horowitz Research's OTA: The New TV Growth Story 2019, one in three (29%) TV content viewers 18+ report owning an antenna; one in four (24%) actively use an antenna to get TV content on at least one of their TV sets. Notably, according to the report, 44% of antenna users report having gotten their first antenna within the past three years.
Today's antenna users do not fit the profile of the antenna user viewer of yesterday— the stereotype of the older, less tech-savvy, lower-income TV viewer fiddling with rabbit ears on their TV. Demographic and media behavior data captured in the Horowitz study reveal that half of antenna users today are under 50; 24% are 18-34. They have a higher household income than non-antenna users. And, today's antenna users are heavier TV viewers overall and are more likely to be streamers than non-antenna users. Nearly nine in ten (87%) of antenna users stream compared to 75% among non-users; 73% report using at least one of the largest three SVOD services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Hulu) (vs. 65% among non-antenna users).
This resurgence in antenna adoption and usage corresponds with the steady increase in cord-cutting, which for many TV viewers, leads them to seek alternative ways to access live, local broadcast content- which antennas deliver. The Horowitz study documents how the shift towards streaming is playing an important role in antenna adoption. Four in 10 (39%) antenna users who stream but do not subscribe to a traditional pay TV service (traditional meaning cable, satellite or fiber) say that a key reason they got an antenna was so that they could cancel their cable/satellite service; another 28% said that it was a reason, though not the key reason.
The correlation between antenna adoption and streaming aside, the majority (60%) of antenna users still have a traditional pay TV service. For antenna users who are MVPD subscribers, antennas are used to get specific channels they cannot get through their cable/satellite service. When asked about what channels they cannot get via their cable/satellite services, respondents mentioned the local version of major broadcasters (noting that they were not able to get their local news through their MVPD broadcast network), channels that were in the process of a carriage dispute, and some specific over-the-air networks that did not have carriage on cable/satellite, such as ION and Bounce. In addition to being able to get specific networks, other reasons that MVPD subscribers may use an antenna include, as a backup in case there is a cable/satellite outage, on TVs in parts of the house that are not wired for cable, and to avoid having a cable box on TVs (and therefore save on cable box rental fees).
"Horowitz Research's first claim to fame in the early 1980s was the research we did for the emergent cable industry to understand 'who will pay for TV when TV is free?" notes Adriana Waterston, Horowitz's SVP of Insights and Strategy. "We seem to have come full circle now. Free or low-priced TV is more readily available to consumers than ever before. The number of OTA channels is increasing. And new technologies like OTA DVRs, OTA integration into connected TV platforms, and the rollout of Next Gen TV standards will only serve to increase consumer awareness and accelerate usage of over-the-air content in the viewing diets of American viewers."
The full OTA: The New TV Growth Story 2019 report provides analysis of U.S. TV content viewers and antenna users. The survey was conducted in September 2019 in English and Spanish among 1,541 TV content viewers.
Topic areas covered in the full study include:
- Sizing the antenna universe
- Services used in combination with antennas
- Reasons for getting an antenna
- Satisfaction and pain points with the antenna experience
- Future intentions for antennas
- Awareness and appeal of ATSC 3.0/Next Gen TV features
Horowitz Research will be presenting a webinar on OTA: The New TV Growth Story 2019 on December 4, 2019. Register here.
CONTACT
For more information about the study, visit: http://www.horowitzresearch.com/syndicated-research/2019-studies/ota-the-new-tv-growth-story/. To schedule an interview with an analyst or to request specific data, please contact [email protected], 914-834-5999.
ABOUT HOROWITZ RESEARCH
Horowitz Research is a leading provider of consumer market research specializing in media content, services, and technology. Founded in 1985, Horowitz Research provides an annual syndicated research subscription and a full suite of à la carte syndicated reports about consumer attitudes, behaviors, and relationships with media, telecommunications, social media, technology, and advertising. Horowitz also provides primary quantitative and qualitative consumer and market research for companies ranging from small start-ups to Fortune 500. The company's expertise includes telecommunication services; traditional and new subscription pay TV services; digital media and platforms; TV and video attitudes, behaviors, and expectations; mobile apps; and consumer technology. For more information, visit http://www.horowitzresearch.com.
SOURCE Horowitz Research
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