There’s a whole lot of streaming going on, according to a new survey by Limelight Networks, especially by younger viewers.
In the eight countries studied, people watch an average of 5.75 hours of online video per week, up 34% since last year.
For people age 18-25, that number exceeds seven hours per week, with more than a quarter watching more than 10 hours of online video each week, the study found.
Related: SVOD Viewing Still Surging: Study
In the U.S. viewers stream an average of 6.58 hours of video per week.
The study found that a computer or laptop remains the primary device used to watch online video. But in some countries, smartphones have become the leading steaming device for younger viewers.
In the U.S., of the folks who stream video to a television set, 33% of people use a smart TV with online video apps to stream video. 28% use a video game console 22.4% use Amazon Fire TV, 21.2 % use Roku and 20.6% use Apple TV. According to the survey, 21.2% say they don’t use any streaming device.
Related: PTC: Streaming Services Lack Robust Parental Controls
The majority of online video viewers subscribe to a cable or satellite television service, and people who subscribe to cable or satellite television services subscribe to more online streaming services than those who do not have cable or satellite television.
Rising prices could cause them to consider cancelling their subscriptions. Other reasons for dropping streaming video service included a lack of interesting content, a lack of quality video playback, if a service didn’t support all the consumer’s devices and if it was too hard to find the content the consumer wants.
Video rebuffering is the primary frustration with viewing online video. If a video rebuffers twice, more than 61% of people said they will stop watching
Viewers find advertising disruptive, but most are willing to accept a short advertisement before a video if the content is free, the survey found.
The survey also looked at reasons why consumers might cut the cord.
The top reason, cited by 55.5% of the respondents in the U.S., was risings prices. Other responses included “when I can directly subscribe to just the channels I want online,” 23%, and “when more sports and other live events become available online, 10.8%. Just under 11% of consumers said they will never terminate their cable or pay TV subscription.
This survey was fielded by a third-party company with access to consumer panels in France, Germany, India, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, U.K., and the U.S. Five-hundred responses were collected from each country for a total of 4,000 global responses. Survey responses were collected between June 22 and June 25, 2017.
