African American consumers not only watch more linear television compared to all audiences, but they also stream content at a higher percentage than all other consumers, according to a new report from Horowitz Research.
Nearly three quarters (74%) of black TV viewers report streaming at least some of their TV content, compared to 68% of all television viewers, according to Horowitz’s FOCUS Black: The Media Landscape report. Further, 65% of African-American streamers say they watch more TV content than they did five years ago.
The high percentage of African-American video streamers shouldn’t be surprising given the group’s voracious consumption of media. A recent Nielsen Total Audience Report for the first quarter of 2018 reported that African-American adults consume nearly 13 and a half hours of media per day, almost two and one-half hours more than the average adult.
“Black consumers have long been some of traditional multichannel’s best customers," says Adriana Waterston, senior vice president of Insights & Strategy at Horowitz. "Super-serving this valuable and entertainment-oriented audience is critical for any player in the pay TV space.”
Indeed, African-American viewers overwhelmingly tune into content that feature their images and stories, particularly on digital platforms. Horowitz reported that 64% of African-American streamers say they will check out a show if it features a Black character or cast, and 57% say that shows featuring racial or other sociopolitical themes appeal to them.
That should bode well for targeted subscription video on demand services like Urban Movie Channel and Brown Sugar -- which directly target African-American viewers -- as well as mainstream video streaming services like Netflix, which looks to appeal to African-American viewers with targeted, original content like its Spike Lee-produced series She’s Gotta Have It and the recently launched comedy All About the Washingtons.
