Study: Interactive Video Can Keep Customers from Jumping Between Services
In recent years, the number of streaming services available to consumers has exploded. While this has given viewers more options for where to get their entertainment content, it has also eventually led to an oversaturation of the market. With so many streaming services to choose from, it can be difficult for viewers to decide which ones to subscribe to and which ones to skip. With not much to differentiate the platforms, it’s easy for users to jump from service to service.
This oversaturation can also lead to a lack of innovation. With so many services competing against each other, there is a tendency to play it safe and stick to tried-and-true formulas for moderate success, while avoiding big swings that are higher on both risk and reward. A recent study by Parks Associates reported that 36% of streaming subscribers were service hoppers — that is, those who stayed with a service a short time, then unsubscribed, and switched between platforms.
The research suggests that more interactive functionality is one way to keep users engaged with platforms, with the goal to decrease customers’ desire to hop between services. Obviously, in recent years, the way that people watch TV, and the variety of devices they watch TV on, has changed dramatically. Parks’ study noted that in the last decade, there has been a decrease in focus on TV screens and an increase in mobile phones and tablets.
“Interactive video creates lean-in experiences by giving viewers the option to choose when, where, and how to enjoy their digital entertainment,” said Sarah Lee, Research Analyst at Parks Associates. “Solutions that enable co-viewing, gamification, shoppable ads, or sports betting offer OTT providers opportunities for differentiation. These solutions can contribute to a level of subscriber engagement that makes service cancellation a less attractive option.”
Some examples of interactive viewing include “hotspots” within TV shows or movies that users will be able to click on revealing more content or that would launch quizzes or on-demand stats. Along these lines, Prime Video’s X-Ray menu provides far more details about shows and stars than most streaming services do, and YouTube TV is planning to incorporate live comments, quizzes, and more into its launch of NFL Sunday Ticket this fall.
Another suggestion that Parks made was a “choose-your-adventure” style show that would allow viewers to select which path they wanted to story to take. For example, the final episode of the series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” on [Netflux] used this method in 2020, allowing audiences to re-watch the episode and see where different paths would lead. The world’s largest streamer has experimented with the format in different ways over the years, including the incredibly popular “Bandersnatch” episode of “Black Mirror.”
The final method that was suggested called for creating live chat so that viewers could talk to one another and the creator, perhaps in a similar way to live streaming Twitch channels. This would be a great option for viewers in different households to interact while watching a show; numerous platforms have unveiled co-viewing features for friends and family around the world to watch shows and movies together in different ways.
There is no doubt that the face of streaming is continuing to evolve and as the interactivity of social media continues to creep into the streaming space, services will need to find ways to meet audiences where they are and provide an experience that takes advantage of all of the opportunities that the technology affords them.