Free over the air TV is extremely popular among multicultural audiences, according to Horowitz Research’s “State of OTA 2021” study. Data shows that two in 10 (21%) Black and 33% of Latinx and Asian cord-cutters use an over-the-air antenna, which means 2.5 million Black, 5.7 million Latinx, and 2.3 million Asian adults use technology to access free OTA live, linear content.
Adriana Waterston, Chief Revenue Officer and Insights & Strategy Lead for Horowitz said, “The findings from this study underscore the continued value of free, local broadcast content to American TV content viewers, and in particular, to Black, Latinx, and Asian audiences.”
Among this studied audience, having access to local broadcast channels is the main driver for getting an antenna, with 8 in 10 consumers citing this as a reason to have one and almost 6 in 10 consumers citing local broadcast as the main reason they have an antenna. Local news, specifically, is important to most Black (76%), Latinx (68%), and Asian (82%) viewers. Local and regional sports content is important to about 6 in 10 Black and Latinx viewers.
What’s also important to Black, Latinx, and Asian audiences is access to free, OTA culturally-relevant content. For instance, 6 in 10 (58%) Black antenna users say that channels geared towards Black audiences are important for them to have. This number has appeared to stay the same since 2016 when Horowitz conducted a similar survey. This seven-year-old report also suggested 45% preferred shows that had “race-related topics” as part of the show’s plot. In this recent State of OTA 2021 report, it was found that 35% of Black antenna users say that they usually view Black-geared content through their antenna.
The report shows similar results among Latinx antenna users: about 6 in 10 bilingual and Spanish-dominant Latinx say that having content in Spanish and/or for Latinx audiences means a lot to them. About 3 in 4 Spanish-dominant and 2 in 3 bilingual Latinx antenna users watch Spanish-language content from a variety of broadcasters, especially Univision and Telemundo.
In addition, the study finds that 10% of MVPD subscribers use an antenna as well. For MVPD subscribers, antennas serve three key purposes: as a backup in case of a cable/satellite outage (63%), to avoid having to pay for a cable/satellite box (47%), and for TV sets without an MVPD subscription (43%).
The study also showed that OTA viewers often combine their antenna usage with their MVPD and/or streaming services. Antenna users with no MVPD service spend about 6 in every 10 hours (57%) of their viewing time watching through their antenna and almost 4 in 10 hours (37%) watching content on streaming services. Even for those with MVPD services, antenna usage consumes about 2 in every 10 hours (18% of time spent).
Almost four in 10 (38%) of Black, 32% of Latinx, and 30% of Asian TV content viewers without an antenna say they would be very likely to get one in the near future.
The biggest drivers for consumers to adopt antennas are stronger reception, enhanced video quality, on-demand content, Dolby sound, and personalized advertising. Another game-changer could be new ATSC 3.0 technologies that will deliver OTA content with interactive, on-demand, and mobile capabilities, according to the research firm.
The full report provides an analysis of U.S. TV content viewers and antenna users. The survey was conducted in October-November 2021 in English and Spanish among 1,600 TV content viewers (708 antenna users).
It’s evident that more consumers are cutting the cord and this survey shows this to be more than true. As the major streaming services prioritize diverse and original content, catering to their multicultural audiences, not only will their content library and subscriber growth be ten times better and larger, their pockets will be too.
In March 2021, Disney+ claimed to want to prioritize increasing Black subscriptions to 13%. With the release of “Black Panther,” “Soul,” and others, this goal isn’t so far from reach. The platform also just added “black-ish,” “grown-ish,” and a Disney Junior show called “Rise Up, Sing Out.”
They have also appealed to Asian, Latinx, and other groups with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Encanto” (which has three Oscar nominations), “Ms. Marvel,” “Eternals,” among others.
After Netflix showed off what they could do with international content (looking at you “Squid Game”), it’s no surprise that they will be upping their library with new K-dramas and anime. Apple TV+ seems to be following this strategy too with the upcoming “Pachinko.”
Overall content spending has risen too so it’s up to the streaming giants to diversify their content and see who flocks to the one with the most and the best.
Diverse Streaming Options
- BET+ (Black entertainment) - $9.99 / month
- ALLBLK (formerly UMC - Black entertainment) - $4.99 / month
- kweliTV (Black entertainment) - $5.99 / month
- Brown Sugar (classic Black films) - $3.99 / month
- Eros Now (Bollywood entertainment) - $4.99 / month
- Spuul (Bollywood entertainment) - $4.99 / month
- Pantaya (Spanish entertainment) - $5.99 / month
- Flix Latino (Spanish entertainment) - $2.99 / month
- KOCOWA (Korean entertainment) - $6.99 / month
- On Demand Korea (Korean entertainment) - $6.99 / month
- Viki (Asian entertainment) - $4.99 / month
- Hi-YAH! (martial arts films) - $3.99 / month
- TOKU (tokusatsu, martial arts, Chinese drama) - $3.99 / month
Related: Best Free Streaming Services