In the United States in 2015, online video was becoming a more regular part of television-style viewing: audiences watched digital originals on both televisions and phones, subscription users consumed multiple shows in a week, and some households dropped pay TV because of cost or because they could find programs elsewhere. The evidence describes a shift in viewing habits—not the disappearance of cable, and not a worldwide picture.
How large was the audience for original online video?
Original digital programming had reached a substantial U.S. audience. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) reported that 24% of American adults—an estimated 59 million people—watched original digital video at least monthly in 2015. That estimate was 13% higher than the prior year’s estimate of 52 million. The survey was fielded April 7–14, 2015; after screening more than 1,900 adults, researchers completed full interviews with 856 monthly online-video viewers aged 18 or older. IAB’s 2015 findings measured a U.S. audience, not viewers everywhere.
Digital originals were particularly relevant to younger adults and people without pay TV. IAB found that cord cutters and cord-nevers aged 18–34 were about twice as likely as other adults to watch original digital video. Among surveyed cord cutters, 53% said such programming mattered somewhat or very much to their decision not to have pay TV; among cord-nevers, 63% said the same. These are respondents’ reported views, not proof that digital originals alone caused anyone to cancel a subscription. IAB’s Sherrill Mane summarized the trend: “Original digital video programming is attracting a growing audience”.
Where and how were people watching?
Online video was no longer confined to computer screens. Among the IAB survey’s original digital video streamers, 72% watched on computers, 56% on connected televisions, 56% on smartphones and 48% on tablets. These device-use figures overlap: a respondent could use several devices, so they do not add up to a share of the audience. IAB also reported that connected-TV, smartphone and tablet use for this programming was more than twice as frequent as two years earlier.
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A separate GfK report tracked regular Netflix users in the U.S. and found that monthly viewing on TVs rose from 36% to 47% over three years, while mobile viewing rose from 10% to 24%. Those figures use a different population and measure from IAB’s device results; they should be read as separate signs of cross-device viewing, not combined into one trend line. A connected television, a compatible streaming player such as Roku or Apple TV, a computer, a phone or a tablet could all be part of the viewing setup.
Were people cutting the cord in 2015?
Some were, but most U.S. adults still reported cable or satellite at home. Pew Research Center’s national telephone survey of 2,001 U.S. adults, conducted June 10–July 12, 2015, found that 76% had cable or satellite service. Another 15% said they had once subscribed but no longer did, while 9% had never subscribed. Among adults aged 18–29, 19% were cord cutters and 16% had never had pay TV. Pew’s definitions and results are reported in its Home Broadband 2015 report.
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Why were households leaving pay TV?
Among U.S. adults without cable or satellite, 71% said the service cost too much, and 64% said they could get the content they wanted elsewhere, through an antenna, the internet or streaming. These were reasons respondents gave, and they could overlap. The finding points to a mix of price pressure and alternative access—not a single cause, and not evidence that streaming alone explained cancellations.
Was Netflix binge watching common?
GfK’s 2015 report found substantial use among regular U.S. Netflix users: on average, they watched 10 television shows and four movies a week on the service. A quarter of regular users said they often or all the time binge-watched three or more programs in one sitting. The report also found that 24% of regular users had watched Netflix on a mobile device in the previous month.
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This is evidence of a viewing habit among regular users, not a measure of all U.S. households or all streaming customers. On-demand libraries made it easier to choose when to watch and continue through several episodes; scheduled television and subscription services still existed side by side. GfK’s David Tice described Netflix as “a TV ecosystem unto itself, and now an established force in the total TV marketplace.” Its account of the over-the-top (OTT) landscape also named Amazon Prime and Hulu subscriptions, Roku and Apple TV delivery systems, and TV Everywhere services offered by cable and satellite companies.
How did online video compete for television attention?
A Nielsen case study published in September 2015 compared U.S. adults aged 18–49 in December 2013 and December 2014. Over that period, time spent watching television fell almost 10%, while time spent watching YouTube rose 44%. Nielsen selected December because it is traditionally a high-TV-viewing month. This comparison captures change for one demographic across two periods; it does not show that all viewers or all television viewing shifted in the same way. Nielsen’s case study framed the figures as part of an evolving digital-video audience.
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How did viewers discover digital programming?
For the U.S. viewers of original digital video surveyed by IAB, word of mouth was the most common discovery route, cited by 53%; social-media sites were cited by 42%, up from 24% in 2013. The survey also found that 55% of regular viewers of made-for-digital programming said they had more social-media interaction than when watching traditional television. These findings describe discovery and interaction among that surveyed audience, not every online-video viewer.
What the 2015 evidence adds up to
The studies point to a more varied television landscape: digital originals drew a sizeable audience; people watched on living-room screens as well as personal devices; subscription viewing could mean several shows in a week; and some households weighed pay-TV costs against antennas and internet options. Social sharing helped people find programming, while YouTube viewing time rose for one measured U.S. age group even as its television time fell. The numbers come from different surveys, definitions and populations, so they describe complementary parts of the transition rather than one unified measure of a single national shift.
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