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77% of Viewers Want a la Carte Channel Selection, Finds TiVo

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More consumers than ever want a la carte channel selection, where they choose exactly the broadcast and cable channels they receive, finds TiVo's Q1 2017 Video Trends Report. In all, 77.3 percent want a la carte service, and that percent is growing. However, the price consumers are willing to pay is shrinking: U.S. consumers would pay $28.31 per month for an ideal 20 channel lineup. That figure shows a 14 percent decrease over the last two quarters.

The channels most requested in an a la carte lineup—something no service offers—are ABC, Discovery, CBS, History, and NBC.

“I see several contributing factors to the downward value trend for a la carte packages," says Paul Stathacopoulos, vice president of strategy at Tivo. "First, consumers use the pricing for popular OTT services as an unconscious benchmark, and any single channel's offering may seem really narrow in contrast. In addition, the increasingly heated skinny bundle market, including more competitive pricing from new entrants, has likely skewed perception as well.”

The report looks at how people watch their TV, finding that 85.4 percent watch live TV daily, 71.9 percent watch DVR content daily, and 67.8 percent watch streamed video daily. All three categories show a quarter-over-quarter increase, with streaming showing the highest increase at 3.1 percent.

With Netflix the clear over-the-top (OTT) leader, TiVo looked into what its subscribers like most about it. Netflix's most popular feature is the ability for everyone in the household to have their own profile. This is followed by the price, the ability to search for content, and the ability to auto-play shows when binge-watching.

TiVo's results comes from a survey of 3,081 adults in the U.S. and Canada. Download the Q1 2017 Video Trends Report for free (registration required).

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