Australians are now watching more streaming services than free TV. 

Paid streaming services dominate how Australians watch scripted series and movies, with Netflix coming in as the most valued choice, according to new research from QUT.

Researchers surveyed more than 2,000 adults to launch a four-part examination of Australians’ attitudes and behaviours towards scripted series and movie viewing.

They found 41 per cent of those surveyed used paid streaming services ‘mostly every day’ or ‘several days’ a week, ahead of free-to air (FTA) channels at 36 per cent.  

“Australians’ most valued service or channel is Netflix, followed by Seven and then ABC TV,” says media scholar Professor Amanda Lotz.

“Australians rarely use and do not significantly value free on-demand services (especially commercial ones) for viewing series and movies.

“The most common place for people to turn first when they don’t have a particular title in mind is to a paid streaming service (38 per cent).

“We already know that Australians love screens in all their forms, our aim here was to get a better sense of the priorities of people in their viewing habits.

“Although Australians use many services and channels, focusing on frequency of use and value revealed how much norms have changed, though not for all. Importantly, use remains multi-faceted, and different norms exist for different groups of viewers.”

QUT’s Dr Marion McCutcheon said eight per cent of respondents watched both FTA and streams at least several times a week.

“We found high FTA viewers are more likely to be high streaming viewers, but high streaming viewers are not necessarily high FTA viewers – they are just as likely to watch less than a few times per month as they are every day,” Dr McCutcheon said.

“There are also strong differences in frequency of viewing by age, and a significant difference among men and women in paid streaming use. 

“Age is particularly important in understanding use of paid streaming services and free-to-air channels. One in five viewers under age 34 do not report using free-to-air channels at all and even fewer use free on-demand services.”

The researchers found people living in inner city areas, outer suburbs and in regional Australia used free and paid streaming services at very similar frequencies, and at higher levels than people in remote areas.

Professor Lotz said the paid streaming services are the most used and most often used by Australian viewers to view series and stories, a status she says can be explained by the ‘distinctive content and experience’ of these services.

“The diminishing amount of original scripted content offered by commercial free-to-air services has reduced their relevance to Australians,” Professor Lotz said.

“The infrequent use of free on-demand services challenges assumptions about price sensitivity and that on-demand access uniformly offers a better experience.

“Frequency of use is a more meaningful indicator than general use or asking if different services/channels have been used in the last 7 days. 

“It aligns with the rise of commercial metrics such as Nielsen’s The Gauge that focus on time spent viewing to better appreciate viewers’ priorities in an increasingly fragmented marketplace of video sources.”

The report is accessible here.