Americans Now Spend $2 Billion Monthly on Streaming Video

According to Deloitte’s 2018 Digital Media Trends Survey, U.S. consumers are now spending about $2 billion per month to watch their favorite TV shows and movies via streaming video services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. The survey notes that 55 percent of U.S. households subscribe to at least one such service — a significant increase from 2009, when it was just 10 percent — and the average customer pays for three. Conversely, the survey found that pay-TV subscriptions like cable and satellite are down to 63 percent from 74 percent in 2016.

According to Variety, “Pay TV’s decline is especially pronounced among Gen Z (ages 14-20), millennials (ages 21-34) and Generation X (ages 35-51). Indeed, 22 percent of millennials say they have never subscribed to a pay-TV service.”

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The survey further breaks down the different habits of those of different generations. It found that Gen Zers “watch 22 hours of streaming video weekly vs. 16 hours of TV, and millennials watch 19 hours of streaming video vs. 15 hours of live TV.”

In the survey, Deloitte coined a phrase: “MilleXZials,” which is “a blending of Gen Z, millennial and Gen X. That’s based on the survey’s finding that the media behavior among the three cohorts has become more similar with respect to how they consume streaming video and pay TV,” writes Variety.

Some of findings are remarkably similar. Of households with streaming subscriptions, 70 percent represented Gen Z, 68 percent represented millennials, and 64 percent represented Gen X.

In more general terms, members of the U.S. audience watch an average of 38 hours of video content per week — 39 percent streamed and 61 percent on live TV. And about 48 percent of U.S. consumers stream TV at least on a weekly basis, up from 37 percent in 2016.

Variety also broke down three more key findings from the survey: binge-watching continues to grow, many are unhappy with pay-TV services, and consumers in the U.S. want more control over online data.

According to Variety, “69 percent of U.S. consumers said companies are not doing everything they can to protect their personal data, and 93 percent believe they should be able to delete their online data when they want.”

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