New American research from a TV consumer study has found that consumers are confused by streaming services (so-called over-the-top or OTT operators like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video etc.), don't know what programming, and live programming, are available or where; and that more would dump their pay-TV subscriptions and switch to streaming services if more live programming were available, especially sports.
Since the United States has a more sophisticated and more mature TV market and consumer market, it's easy to postulate that the findings of the study by Telaria and Adobe, entitled "Inside the Minds of Cord-Cutters and Cable-Keepers", would be true - and even more so - for South Africa and Africa.
South African consumers and pay-TV subscribers are still getting used to nascent streaming services ranging from Naspers' Showmax run by MultiChoice that also provides the DStv satellite direct-to-home (DTH) pay-TV service, Netflix operating Netflix South Africa, Amazon Prime Video, Cell C black, and a few other small service.
While streaming service uptake in South Africa is rapidly growing, it's still from a very small base with streamers like Showmax, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video unwilling to make subscriber numbers per market, like in South Africa, available.
What the Telaria and Adobe study found is that while a lot of people switch to streaming services, even more would switch and get rid of their existing traditional pay-TV subscription if they knew that they could get live programming - especially sports content - and knew what live TV programming existed.
Among consumers who won't let go of their pay-TV subscription - people called "cable keepers" - 20% said they don't know how, if they dropped their pay-TV, how they would access live TV.
"Despite steady declines in subscribers, cable still dominates viewership," the study found.
"The primary reason people keep the cord is the perception that only a linear connection can deliver live television content (42%). The second and third most common reasons are the desire to have a lot of TV channels (34%), and the fear of losing favourite networks (32%)."
Sports content and other live TV events are also strong reasons why people want and want to keep their pay-TV subscription.
According to the study 30% of "cable keepers" said they would drop their pay-TV subscription of they could stream their favourite sports content, live events they want to watch and TV news.
Pay-TV subscribers also don't know enough about streaming services, and don't know what is available, and where.
More than half (55%) say they are confused by the available streaming options.
"Despite the barriers, almost half of cable subscribers have or are considering cutting the cord," the study found.
"This is especially true among millennials, who outpace older segments in cord-free status. One in three pay-TV subscribers would definitely cut the cord if they could live stream their favourite sports, events and news, and an additional 40% would consider it."
"Sports fans are even more likely to consider cutting the cord if they could live stream programming."
According to the study the top reason why people dropped their pay-TV subscription was that it was deemed to be too expensive (73%), that everything was available through streaming (36%), and that there were too many TV channels available on the pay-TV bouquet (36%).
The study found that a lot of people are accessing streaming services through password sharing. A whopping 16% of respondents said they use someone else's password from a network or a provider to authenticate an app on a device.
Another 21% share their passwords with friends and family. Interestingly people are more satisfied with the price they're paying for streaming services than for traditional pay-TV with 70% saying they're satisfied with the monthly price they're paying for streaming, compared to just 40% for traditional pay-TV subscribers.
