TV streaming is no longer a niche product and is reaching the mass market

The results show that TV streaming is no longer a niche product, but has reached the mass market. For the report, Kantar TNS surveyed 800 Swiss Internet users aged 14 to 69 in an online panel. The report is available for free download here.

We live in the streaming age. Media consumption is changing massively as a result of digitization, and streaming has long been integrated into everyday life. Movies and series are streamed, music has long since ceased to come from CDs, and even television programming is increasingly watched over the Internet instead of via traditional channels such as cable or antenna.
Zattoo's TV streaming report shows three trends: TV streaming is reaching the mass market, the use of TV streaming on the big TV screen in the living room is becoming a matter of course, and users increasingly want to consume TV flexibly.

"We are convinced that TV via the Internet will become the standard. Our first TV streaming report also shows this trend," said Jörg Meyer, Chief Officer Content and Consumer at Zattoo. "Today, TV must function as individually and conveniently as Netflix and YouTube in order to meet user needs. We make that possible with features for time-shifted TV like Live Pause or Online Recording. With products like our program recommendation 'Recommender', we also support the personalization of the TV experience."

The results of the TV streaming report in detail:

What devices are being watched on?

Smart TV is becoming increasingly important for TV streaming. While initially streaming was primarily done via mobile devices, usage is increasingly shifting to the big screen (Figure 1). 31 percent of users already stream on smart TV, with tablet or smartphone 29 percent and 35 percent respectively. TV streaming is therefore no longer perceived only as a TV solution for on the move, but has arrived in the living room. This development can also be seen in streaming behavior during the 2018 World Cup (Figure 6). 44 percent of Zattoo's usage time was spent streaming via smart TV (data basis: Zattoo's own data).

Which TV offerings are used on the Internet?

Moving image content is increasingly being consumed via the Internet. Around 60 percent of respondents use YouTube (Figure 2). More than 50 percent stream live TV, 31 percent use media libraries, and 27 percent use on-demand.

TV in the future exclusively via the Internet?

More than one in two (54 percent) can imagine watching TV exclusively via the Internet in the future (chart 3). 7 percent already use this option and only 9 percent cannot imagine doing so. Internet TV is therefore increasingly establishing itself as an alternative to conventional TV reception channels.

What are the main advantages of TV streaming?

The great potential of TV streaming is that users can stream TV when and where they want. Nowadays, people don't just want to sit in front of the TV when the program guide says "Sunday, 8:05 p.m., Tatort". To put it another way: with TV streaming, it's Tatort time when you want it. For one in two, time-shifted TV viewing is the biggest advantage of TV streaming (Figure 2). For more than 40 percent, availability on many devices, i.e., smartphones, tablets, laptops and smart TVs - and across various platforms (iOS, Android, Windows 10) - comes in second.

Watch Swiss television abroad

37 percent of Swiss Internet users answered in the affirmative to the question of whether they miss Swiss television when they are on vacation or on a business trip. Zattoo has a solution for this: since August, Swiss people have not only been able to record TV shows and series with Zattoo, but also watch recordings worldwide. TV shows can be recorded and played back - regardless of whether a Zattoo user is in another European country or on another continent.