Net-Metrix: Ever greater and broader penetration of streaming use
About 3.5 million Swiss people consume video or audio content online, and 560,000 do so daily or almost daily. The latest edition of the Net-Metrix Streaming Report 2012-2 thus highlights the growing popularity of streaming services in Switzerland.
The group of streaming users has grown by 11% in the last twelve months and, at 65.8%, already accounts for two thirds of Swiss online users. The trend comparison by Net-Metrix makes it clear that not only are more and more people using corresponding services such as web radio or web TV at least occasionally or consuming audio and video content on video, news and TV portals, but that they are also penetrating ever wider circles in terms of socio-demographic structures. For example, the proportion of women among streaming users was 38.5% a year ago and now stands at 43.4%. The difference was even greater among streaming heavy users, i.e. those who use streaming services daily or almost daily: the proportion of women in this user group has risen from 28.4% in 2011 to 41% today.
The younger age groups continue to dominate among streaming users: Around 58% are younger than 40, while this figure is just under 73% for streaming heavy users. However, if you look at the development over the last twelve months, shifts become apparent here too: the proportion of streaming users in the 40+ age group has grown from 36.1% to 42.3% since 2011, which corresponds to an increase of 17%. This change can be seen even more clearly among frequent users of audio and video content via the web, where the share of the 40+ age group has grown from 21.2% to 27.1% in one year. This corresponds to an increase of 28%.
These figures suggest that not only are more and more people consuming video and audio content online, but that the structure of streaming users is changing towards the profiles of internet users in general. This trend is likely to continue due to the high level of internet penetration in Switzerland1 as well as the increasing use of internet services via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets2 , which simplify the use of radio, TV and video services via the web.
Web radio and web TV continue to grow
The survey also covers the various categories of services used. It is clear that more than one in three Swiss online users (35.2%) are regular web radio listeners. At over 7%, this service category has seen the highest growth since 2011. However, the use of web TV (e.g. Wilmaa, Zattoo or Teleboy) also appears to be gaining in popularity: Almost three in ten internet users (29%) consume web TV offerings several times a month or more frequently. This means that this proportion has increased by almost 6% in one year. As in previous surveys, the use of video portals is still the most popular: This category includes the most regular users and their share has grown from 52% in 2011 to currently 55%.
