Report: Australian take-up of on-demand video doubles in three years, piracy plunges 26%

A new report issued by Screen Australia shows that Australia’s take up of on-demand video has virtually doubled in the past three years.

It is particularly high with the 18-34 age group.

But the 2017 Online & On Demand report, based on research conducted by Nielsen on behalf of Screen Australia, also found that while streaming services have completely changed how Australians view content, yet broadcast TV remains popular and piracy levels have declined drastically.

However YouTube usage is almost as high and services as Netflix have enjoyed huge audience take-up.

The report also confirms that younger Australians are frequent users of new content platforms, including social media outlets like Facebook to access professionally created video content.

Since the study was last conducted in 2014, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix and Stan have entered the Australian market.

68% of 2017 respondents use SVOD services, compared to 37% in 2014.

Use of broadcaster catch-up services has also increased to 87% from 74% in 2014.

Use of Other AVOD’ services like YouTube and video on Facebook continues to grow, with 82% of respondents accessing content, up from 70% in 2014.

Australian VOD users still access content through traditional platforms, with 88% through broadcast TV (90% in 2014).

But the amount of people accessing content via transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) services like the iTunes store, has decreased considerably (14% in 2017 vs 41% in 2014).

There’s a drift from watching video-on-demand via laptops (a drop of 7 points to 60%) while smartphone usage climbed from 10% to 25%.

In terms of changes in viewing behaviour, VOD users spend most of their viewing time (14 hours per week) watching broadcast TV.

But SVOD is growing in popularity, now taking up 8.75 hours viewed per week.

Other changes expressed by SVOD users were that 52% watch less free-to-air and 46% now less likely to download films and TV programs to rent or own through TVOD services like iTunes or Google Play.

Behaviours also change with age. Broadcast television is most popular with those aged 60 (96%), whereas SVOD is most used with those aged 18-34 (81%).

Despite being a new way to access content, broadcaster catch-up services are also popular with 45-59 year olds (88%) and those aged 60 (92%).

The range of choice and price has clearly had an impact on the level of piracy.

The level of video-on-demand users who download or stream illegal content has dropped drastically to 17%, compared to 43% in 2014.

According to the report, the demographic that watches the most illegal content is the 18-24s, at 28%.

Fiona Cameron, chief operating officer at Screen Australia, said while free-to-air television remains “king”, other platforms have seen incredible audience growth.

“The report also confirms that younger Australians are frequent users of new content platforms, including social media outlets like Facebook to access video,” Cameron pointed out.

“The speed of change in our industry is not going to slow down, so undoubtedly there is pressure on producers to stay abreast of where their audience is, and for regulators to form policy that meets the market.

“For Screen Australia, the findings show that Australian content is still immensely popular, and when you have platforms like broadcaster catch-up services housing a lot of local content, they’re rewarded with viewership.”