SVOD is the first destination for 29% of Europeans when they turn on their TV, but linear TV still dominates, with 48% going there first.
Almost 15% go straight to a BVOD (broadcaster VOD) service first.
This is according to the fifth edition of the annual Living Room Study published by RTL AdAlliance, the international TV sales house.
The study found that 9% of European consumers go to a non-broadcaster AVOD service or FAST channel curation as their first destination.
BVOD selection is accelerating, as it was the first destination for only 8% of European consumers last year.
The share of people going directly to SVOD is stable, but the figures for AVOD and linear TV are both down three percentage points year-on-year.
The statistics are based on a representative sample of 11,160 European respondents aged 18-64. Markets covered are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
This study also questioned consumers in the US and China. The fieldwork – conducted by market research institute Norstat – covered a total of 15,500 people during January and February.
Asked where they watch video content most of the time, 83% of European respondents said the living room, vs 58% of US consumers.
Loving the living room
The authors characterise European consumers as firmly attached to their living-room TV sets.
Stéphane Coruble, CEO at RTL AdAlliance, says: “The living room is not losing ground in Europe – it is gaining relevance.
“Europeans watch videos on fewer screens and spend longer with what they choose. What Europe [meaning its media industry] has built around its main screen has no equivalent anywhere else in the world.”
The study found that 39% of Europeans aged 18-34 watch programmes on television that they first discovered on social platforms.
Sixty-seven per cent discuss on social media what they have seen on TV.
The study found that (not surprisingly) Europeans turn to global streaming platforms mainly for on-demand content. “Live events, local programmes and shared viewing moments remain rooted in linear TV,” it says.
The report also states that 41% of Europeans now watch live content through BVOD platforms on their TVs.
