Pureprofile survey reveals the impact of Netflix launching in Australia.
Almost one in three (31.3 per cent) of Foxtel subscribers are thinking about ditching the service for alternative services such as Netflix, new research (1) suggests.
The survey by consumer insights specialists Pureprofile reveals 6% of existing Foxtel subscribers say they plan to ditch their account in favour of a services such as Netflix, Stan or Presto, and a quarter (25.2%) are considering making the switch.
But a large proportion of Foxtel subscribers (68.7%) won’t cancel their subscriptions in favour of Netflix and other streaming services.
Nearly three in 10 Australians surveyed (26.2%) have a Foxtel subscription and the data also reveals prime time TV shows and exclusive sports coverage are strong reasons for sticking with the brand.
The survey shows 35.8% of male subscribers will continue their Foxtel account for the excellent sports coverage, while 43.8% of 18-24 year old subscribers are sticking with their account for the selection of prime-time TV shows.
When it comes to Netflix, 9.6% of respondents say they already subscribe to the service, but this figure could rise to 21.4% in the next 12 months if those saying they plan to subscribe sign up.
Pureprofile CEO Paul Chan says the real winner in the paid content wars should ultimately be the consumer.
“With more choice than ever before, and customers able to vote with their loyalty about which services they subscribe to and pay for, the result should be a greater diversity in the services available, the packages they offer, and the methods available to pay for them.”
“Foxtel has already met market demand with its streaming service, Presto. Now Netflix is in the picture this will only make the kind of premium content many have traditionally seen as too expensive to pay for become much more accessible.”
The research also reveals that Netflix has achieved huge brand recognition since its March launch in Australia: 73.7% of Aussies have heard of it.
It is miles ahead of competing brands that recently launched in Australia, namely Stan (48.1%), owned by Nine Network and Fairfax, and Presto (39.6%), which is owned by Foxtel and Seven West Media.
Most Netflix users can be found in the younger age demographics, with 23.8% of subscribers in the 18-24 bracket and 31.75% in the 25-34 bracket.
Foxtel has even better brand recognition, with 83.7% of Australians familiar with the long-running pay TV service.
Pureprofile’s survey of 1,317 Australians also found:
Younger age brackets are happier about paying for content:
- 26.5% of 18-24 year olds think all content should be free
- 52.9 per cent of 65+ bracket think the same way.
Younger generations are twice as likely to pay for the latest TV shows than older counterparts
42.4% of 18-24-year-olds are willing to pay for the latest movies, and 40.9% for the latest TV shows
21.2% of those in 65+ bracket are willing to pay for the latest movies and 19.2% for the latest TV shows.
62.7% of Australians want an affordable subscription fee, with pricing the top consideration when it comes to signing up for an entertainment service.
49.5 % want to watch or listen to content without ads
26.1% of Australians aren’t willing to pay for an ad-free TV and movies streaming experience, while more than half of Australians (54.7%) aren’t willing to pay for an ad-free music streaming experience
17.4% of people who do not subscribe to paid entertainment streaming or subscription services say they believe the content is too expensive.
More than one in four respondents (26.1%) are still unwilling to pay anything at all to get ad-free access to their favourite video content, including sport, TV shows and movies.
Despite Australians leading the world in illegal downloads, just 7% of respondents say they watch illegally downloaded content on a weekly basis, with 6% admitting to doing so fortnightly, 6.3% doing so once a month or less, and 18.3% saying they rarely watch illegally downloaded content but they have done in the past.
(1) The Pureprofile content consumption survey was conducted between 23 April 2015 and 2 May 2015. It was distributed to a nationally representative sample of the Australian population according to the latest Census data (2011), with a final sample size of N=1317 that was weighted to the population.
Around the web
- Australian Financial Review – 30 per cent of Foxtel subscribers are considering ditching service for streaming
- SMH – How many Foxtel customers will defect to Netflix?
- WA Today – How many Foxtel customers will defect to Netflix?
- The Age – How many Foxtel customers will defect to Netflix?
- The Brisbane Times – How many Foxtel customers will defect to Netflix?
- The New Daily – Foxtel losing war on Netflix
