Remember the good old days, when your movie night options were limited to whatever flicks the local Blockbuster had in stock? With streaming the options are so endless they now seem overwhelming. A new Nielsen State of Play study confirms this and reports that “46% of viewers say it’s harder to find the video streaming content that they want to watch because there are too many streaming services available to consumers.” The same study also found that “72% of Americans say ‘I love my user experience with video streaming services.’’ Moreover, the study cites 93 percent of Americans as having plans to maintain or add additional streaming services to their current streaming options.
While these statistics may seem contradictory, Brian Fuhrer, senior vp product strategy at Nielsen, explains them as part of the process of growth in streaming. He states:
“We’ve entered the next phase of streaming, based on the trends we have been detailing about streaming over the past few years. We’ve moved from infancy into adolescence, and all the complexities that one would expect at that point. It’s not just that streaming is increasing year over year. Now consumers want access simplified and the explosion of services has renewed discussions around bundling and aggregation. Ultimately, these challenges signal an opportunity as the industry harnesses streaming for long-term business growth.”
The opportunity for growth is also reflected in the study. 2021 saw an 18 percent increase in the total number of hours spent on streaming platforms. There are 817,000 unique program titles available via streaming platforms. Movie night’s possibilities are endless, if not overwhelming. Streaming platforms’ next mission, should they choose to accept it, will be how to manage user overwhelm to create the best user experience possible.
