Streaming users complain: too many ads, not enough content

New survey out from IBM shows most people are looking for the biggest screen possible to stream

Updated with comment from TubeMogul

All the talk in recent years has been about the rise of streaming, chord-cutters and the death of cable. Sure, services like Amazon, Netflix and Hulu are ushering in an age of on demand streaming, but perhaps the change isn't as dramatic as we thought it would be.

In fact, rather than replace cable with streaming, it seems like many people are now opting for both, according to a survey out from IBM, which questioned 1,007 US adult subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) users in April of this year.

Roughly two-thirds, 63 percent, of all consumers now use at least one streaming service. When asked which one they watched more, though, more than half of those participating in the survey said they watch both equally.

The rest were split exactly down the middle, with 24 percent saying they watched cable more, and another 24 percent saying they watched streaming more. So, it turns out, less than a quarter of all people are replacing ther regular TV habits with increased streaming.

One factor that does lean things in favor of streaming, though, is that Millennials are much more likely to stream than to watch TV, with 72 percent of them consuming their content that way. That points to streaming, even if it hasn't become dominant yet, will in the years and decades to come.

Possible impediments to streaming dominance

As streaming becomes a larger force in content consumption, there are definitely issues that are going to have to be worked out, in terms of how and where users gain access. 

One of those is password sharing, which can cut down on the number of people subscribing to each service. Those same Millennials who love streaming so much, also, it turns out, don't want to pay for it. Nearly a third of them use streaming services that someone else if footing the bill for (I confess to being guilty of this).

The good news for the streaming services, though, is that people who pay often don't want to share. Nearly half, 48 percent, of those surveyed say that don't share their password. The other 42 percent said they share with family. Only 2 percent said they share with friends, and 1 percent "with anyone," which honestly seems like a really bad idea.

There's also the possibility that users want to cancel their subscriptions. When IBM asked why they might consider dropping a service, the top answer was interesting: advertising, with 27 percent citing that as the main pain point for their streaming service.

Of the big three, Amazon, Netflix and Hulu, only Hulu shows ads. Though the company introduced an ad-free model in September of last year, for a pretty high price of $11.99, even then some shows still have ads before and after they air. So that complaint would seem to be directly mainly at Hulu. 

"People don’t hate all advertising – they hate advertising that is intrusive, irrelevant, or annoying. Viewers don’t want to see the same ad 20 times while streaming a single TV episode, or see an ad for a product that they would never conceivably buy (i.e. a younger adult seeing a prescription drug ad aimed at retirees)," David Burch, VP of Global Communications at TubeMogul, told me.

"Software and technology offer a way out. Brands centralizing their advertising efforts on TubeMogul’s software can set global frequency targets to ensure ads do not get oversaturated, use data to better target viewers and shift budgets in real-time based on where ads are resonating. This automated and data-driven approach will likely improve viewer perceptions of advertising over time."

The next big factor is a pretty common one: price, with 25 percent citing that as their reason for canceling. That explains why so many seem to be using Hulu, but not its ad-free service, and it portends some potential problems for Netflix, as its prices just went up for millions of customers.

After that comes "not enough shows," with 20 percent, which could also be a problem, since 38 percent, the most by far, cited "more content" as their reason for signing up in the first place. 

The only other major factor are technical issues, with 17 saying that's why they quit, mostly due to problems with buffering. 

Honestly, though, none of these services have much to worry about in terms of users dropping them, as only 31 percent said they have ever canceled a subscription service. Interestingly, users are more likely to cancel or Hulu or Amazon, with 40 percent having canceled at least one of them, while only 30 percent have canceled Netflix.

In addition, 79 percent said they are very likely or likely to re-subscribe if they have to update their billing info. Most people, it seems, are pretty happy and aren't looking to quit any time soon. 

Finally, the only other major issue with the rise of streaming services is that it doesn't translate well to mobile. The vast majority, 75 percent, watch streaming services on either a desktop, laptop, gaming console or connected TV. Only 10 percent watch on a tablet, and 15 percent on a smartphone.

When asked what stopped them from watching on a mobile device, the biggest answer was the most obvious one: 49 percent said that the screen was too small.

(Image source: help.hulu.com)