Video-on-demand (VOD) viewing on TV is set to overtake online VOD viewing, as the pay TV platforms continue to ramp up their TV catch-up propositions, according to Decipher’s bi-annual media tech tracker Mediabug.
The Mediabug report, which surveyed 3,000 UK adults in October this year, revealed online VOD viewing is likely to migrate from online PCs and mobile devices to the main TV screen, triggered by Sky broadening its On Demand service to include ITV Player and BBC iPlayer.
Nearly half (42%) of ITV Player viewers have a Sky subscription, while 8 per cent already have Sky On Demand featuring ITV Player, according to the report.
Decipher consultants believe this will tip the online VOD viewing market in favour of the TV VOD. Decipher Media Research director Dr Hamish McPharlin said the market is entering an era of rapid expansion for TV VOD, having previously been geared around online VOD.
“It is clear when people are given the choice of which screen to watch VOD on they opt for the main TV screen, not online," he said. "In the short term there will be a migration of online to TV VOD but ultimately the two will consolidate. Innovation in the devices will mean in time mobile, online and connected TV devices are likely to which could help improve measurement and understanding of viewer preferences and behaviours across the three screens, which will also be positive for advertisers in the future."
The satellite broadcaster has rolled out Sky On Demand to 1.3m homes and a further 5.4m have enabled boxes that could run the services in the coming years.
The percentage of TV homes that watch online and TV VOD is relatively even, with 49 per cent watching it online and 41 per cent via the main TV screen. That contrasts with free-to-air homes, the majority of which (53 per cent) watch VOD online, while 5 per cent choose to watch VOD including BBC iPlayer via a set-top box, according to the report.
Meanwhile people with pay TV subscriptions of either Sky or Virgin Media are more likely to own and use smartphones and games consoles for content consumption and are also more likely to own a smart TV.
The majority (80 per cent) of UK homes are broadband-enabled, while 10 per cent of those are smart TV owners. Currently most are in Sky homes, but 27 per cent of Smart TV owners are from Freeview homes, broadening the base of homes in the UK with VOD on TV.
The number of homes that connect their smart TVs to the internet has also increased, with 2012 models receiving an 85 per cent connection rate compared to 50 per cent in 2011.
VOD viewing via mobile devices continues to grow, with tablets favoured as the device of choice to watch TV catch-up content, compared to smartphones. Nearly half of the 61 per cent of respondents who own a smartphone watch VOD via their devices, while 14 per cent of the 22 per cent of tablet owners questioned do so. Two thirds (61 per cent) of tablet owners watch VOD via their devices on a weekly basis, compared with 35 per cent of smartphone owners, according to the report.
Pay TV homes are also more likely to transact via their VOD services, with 18 per cent of Pay TV homes purchasing via both online and TV VOD, while 11 per cent of free-to-air homes transact via online VOD. They are also more likely to own and use media devices such as smartphones and consoles for content consumption.
Meanwhile one in five of the 80 per cent UK broadband homes have heard of YouView, but almost no one has bought it, although take-up is predicted to be driven by bundle deals from shareholders TalkTalk and BT Vision, according to the report.