Participant Observations 03/09/19 - Streaming is mainstream

More data is being published that suggests the consumption of television via OTT or streaming distribution is becoming mainstream.

For example, here is an ABC article that quotes a Telsyte survey that says 12.3 million Australian households pay for a video on demand service, which is more than half of all households:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-02/streaming-on-demand-on-the-rise-tv-ad-revenue-feels-pressure/11465332

And here is a link to a Roy Morgan report, that says that 66.7% of all Australians have access to a subscription/pay TV service:

https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8113-state-of-the-nation-sotn-media-svod-overtakes-home-phones-august-2019-201909020417?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2019-09-03-AU-MRU&utm_content=2019-09-03-AU-MRU+CID_af5dd3b7e2c0fcbb3cc31c940947c1f6&utm_source=Market%20Research%20Update&utm_term=Read%20full%20article

Furthermore, is says "57.1% of Australians now have access to SVOD services", and that "Only four years ago less than 2% of Australians had SVOD."

Here is a graph from the Roy Morgan report showing some of the growth and decline of different services:

I think what is interesting in the context of my research, is that my viewing has been almost exclusively OTT-based since I got rid of my Foxtel Satellite service almost exactly two years ago, on the 15th of September 2017. In fact, I blogged about it here:

https://thesportswatcher.blogspot.com/2017/09/participant-observations-180917.html

So where does this put me on the Roger's Diffusion of Innovation curve? It was always my stated aim to be an early adopter. This website provides some rough definitions for Innovators, Early Adopters, and the Early Majority,

http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories4.html

The Roy Morgan Article also says that "four years ago less than 2% of Australians had SVOD." So by some rough logic, if Innovators were using OTT 4 years ago (0-2.5%), and the Total SVOD market overtook 15% in about June 2016 (Early Adopters), then I would appear to be more in the Early Majority stage.

Here are the definitions from that page:

1. Innovators - These are people who want to be the first to try the innovation. They are venturesome and interested in new ideas. These people are very willing to take risks, and are often the first to develop new ideas. Very little, if anything, needs to be done to appeal to this population.
2. Early Adopters - These are people who represent opinion leaders. They enjoy leadership roles, and embrace change opportunities. They are already aware of the need to change and so are very comfortable adopting new ideas. Strategies to appeal to this population include how-to manuals and information sheets on implementation. They do not need information to convince them to change.
3. Early Majority - These people are rarely leaders, but they do adopt new ideas before the average person. That said, they typically need to see evidence that the innovation works before they are willing to adopt it. Strategies to appeal to this population include success stories and evidence of the innovation's effectiveness.
4. Late Majority - These people are skeptical of change, and will only adopt an innovation after it has been tried by the majority. Strategies to appeal to this population include information on how many other people have tried the innovation and have adopted it successfully.
5. Laggards - These people are bound by tradition and very conservative. They are very skeptical of change and are the hardest group to bring on board. Strategies to appeal to this population include statistics, fear appeals, and pressure from people in the other adopter groups.

To me, it was a price issue, rather than needing to see evidence that the innovation worked, that motivated me to adopt the new idea, perhaps suggesting some limitation in the model, although I'd need to explore the definitions further in a more authoritative resource.

The point is though, that I've been two years ahead of the mainstreaming of streaming!!