Are streaming services losing the fight for viewers’ eyes?
Are streaming services losing the fight for viewers’ eyes?
A new study indicates that even older viewers are now engaging in second-screen viewing while watching TV.
The fight for subscribers among streaming services is more or less over; now, the battleground has shifted to engagement. Streaming platforms are in a war for customer attention with online video-sharing platforms like TikTok and YouTube, with younger viewers spending increasing amounts of time with such services. A new study from Omdia shows that even older viewers are watching video on their phones while also watching TV in increasing numbers, yet another sign that streaming services might be losing the battle for viewer attention.
Key Details:
- Spreading habit: More than half of viewers aged 45 to 54 watch video on their phones while watching TV.
- Even the elderly: The number of viewers age 55+ who multitask with video has grown markedly since 2022.
- Your move, streamers: Netflix has made some steps to try to win back audience eyes, but other streamers need to catch up.
The data from Omdia shows that it isn’t just Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences that whip out their phone frequently while watching TV. Its numbers show that 52% of respondents aged 45 to 54 say they watch video clips with the TV on, a marked increase from the 39% who admitted to the practice in 2022.
Younger viewers watch videos on their phones while using the big screen even more frequently; over 60% of audiences in each age group from 18 to 44 say they stream video clips on their mobile device during TV time. Perhaps most fascinatingly, the number of viewers aged 55 to 64 who do second-screen watch has jumped from 20% to 35% since 2022.
Click chart to expand.
“Multitasking has moved into the mainstream,” Omdia’s Maria Rue Aguete said. “Audiences increasingly split their attention across multiple screens, which reflects shorter attention spans and the constant pull of mobile platforms. When it comes to streamers and broadcasters, the challenge is clear: attention is now fragmented. Winning audiences increasingly requires content ecosystems that extend beyond the TV screen and into mobile experiences where viewers are simultaneously consuming video, social media and short-form content.”
With older age groups now increasingly dividing their attention between their TV and their phones, the onus falls on streaming services and other programmers to win back the attention of their subscribers. But each platform has to determine for itself the best method of doing so, and many are starting to fall behind in the race.
Netflix, predictably, is the furthest ahead in the battle for engagement. That streamer has made moves like adding video podcasts, announcing the launch of a vertical video scroll, and rolling out a new interface for more dynamic content discovery.
Disney+ will also add a vertical video feed, and Paramount+ is working on launching short-form video as well. However, considering how much of a head start social video has and how many inroads it’s making among older viewers, these efforts will probably only be initial steps in each streamer’s strategy to win back the attention of customers.
I’m not sure that simply imitating the experience viewers can have on TikTok or YouTube will be enough for streamers, either. Audiences are already familiar and comfortable with YouTube and TikTok, and have feeds specially tailored to their preferences thanks to those services’ algorithms. People will have to teach their favorite streamers what they want to watch, and may not have the patience to do so when a custom social video scroll is ready and waiting at any time.
Some streaming services may decide that, instead of trying to pull back the attention of viewers, they will lean further into the practice of watching different videos on multiple devices. Perhaps a service will attempt to launch a watch-along microseries of some kind to stream on its YouTube and social channels while the main show or movie is played on TV, or some similar integration of the two screens.
Standing pat is clearly not an option, as Omdia’s data makes plain. More and more viewers are learning to scroll short video clips on their phones as they watch TV, and even older viewers are getting in on the trend. Streamers are losing the battle for viewer attention, and each will have to devise its own strategy to combat or work with social video platforms.
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