Industry Insights: The challenge of meeting the demands of the 18-34 demographic, where sport fits into that equation, and anti-piracy success in France.
Subscribe, stack, churn, repeat
One of the difficulties that all video service providers face is that while the 18-34 age group represents a significant opportunity — they consume huge amounts of content and are a key demographic beloved by advertisers — they are also extremely difficult to retain.
Ampere has put numbers on this, saying that the age group is 19 percentage points more likely to be at high-risk for churn from their SVOD services than the rest of the population.
The main reason for the high levels of churn is often given as cost but this is only part of the overall picture. The 18-34 group also subscribes to more platforms, 4.2 services vs. 3.3 on average for the rest of the population, and is 29% more likely to rent and 15% more likely to buy content.
“What stands out particularly is that this group exhibits a clear pattern of strategic subscription cycling,” writes Ampere’s Isabelle Charnley. “Instead of maintaining always-on access, many choose to subscribe, cancel, and then resubscribe depending on whether content they care about is available."
What needs to be added to this is the fact that even streaming services are on the back foot compared to social video services such as TikTok. Only 52% return to their subscription OTT platforms each day, whereas 85% use a social video service daily.
So, what can broadcasters and operators do to entice the younger audience to stay? The following graphic shows their motivations when it comes to subscribing to different services, with the ability to watch across multiple devices at the head of a list that includes plenty of content and, yes, the ability to cancel and resubscribe frictionlessly.
Why this matters: Price alone does not govern value. To quote Ampere again, when it comes to the 18-34 demographic, “Value is increasingly defined by how easily, enjoyably, and broadly they can access content…This shift toward a more holistic definition of value highlights the importance of user experience, personalization, and perceived convenience alongside content quality.”
Younger fans still watching sports, but differently
One of the long-held fears about the change in viewing patterns that has been underway since the start of the streaming era was about how it would impact sports. Younger audiences watch less sports than older ones, but the traditional model always saw a conveyor belt operating that eventually delivered viewers as they aged to the big screen living-room TV to watch sports.
The worry was that fragmentation would upend all this and that the conveyor belt had ground to a halt. The reasoning was that there are now too many competing pulls on younger audience’s time — too much content, too many devices. By the time they were settling down and having families, which was when the sports viewing uptick usually started, the last place that they were settling in turn was on the sofa in front of the big game.
However, the increased amount of sports content appearing on streaming media and the persistent rise in rights values alone suggests this has not yet come to pass. And some new stats released by Parks Associates as part of the publicity drive for some new research in the field provide further optimism that it won’t happen any time soon.
- 40% of viewers under age 35 use sports-specific D2C streaming apps.
- 70% of sports viewers aged 18–24 watch live games weekly, versus 87% among 55+.
- Younger fans are far more likely to engage with interactive features like live stats, polls, and sports betting.
- Highlight packages and shorter-form content are essential to attracting Gen Z and Millennial sports fans.
Why this matters: While not as many younger fans watch sports as older ones, this has been the norm for generations. What is different nowadays is that they are consuming sports content far more interactively, and content needs to be tailored to match this increased expectation for engagement.
ARCOM reports on anti-piracy efforts in France
Some interesting data from French communications authority ARCOM which has been blocking access to illicit sports streaming since 2022.
Agency researchers found that, over the course of 2024, 62% of French residents watched live sports broadcasts. This was roughly about the same as in 2023. More pertinently, 18% of French residents watched sports content illegally, down slightly on 2023’s figure of 19%. This is largely via two different methods that can overlap: 16% of French people used live streaming sites, while 12% access content illegally via IPTV devices.
Perhaps more worryingly, 41% of these IPTV users had been doing so for less than one year. That figure has grown substantially from the 26% of new users reported in 2023.
Soccer is by far the most popular sport watched via illegal sources. Interestingly, 60% of illegal viewers also subscribe to legitimate paid services. Partly this is because of the sheer amount of content they are watching. 64% of those streaming illicitly are identified by ARCOM as ‘hyper consommateurs’, hyper consumers who watch sport three times a week, compared to only 27% for the general population.
It is interesting to note what happens when a consumer is blocked from accessing pirated content by ARCOM. 3797 blocks were carried out in 2024 compared to 1544 the previous year, showing that the authority is serious about tackling the problem. When blocked:
- A total of 46% gave up illicit viewing
- 26% abandoned entirely
- 10% subscribed to a legal offer
- 9% took to password sharing
- 32% went to another illicit site
- 10% subscribed to an infringing IPTV offer
ARCOM plans to block more sites and domain names this year. By the end of April, it had already blocked over 63% (2395) of the total sites it managed in 2024, putting git on course for a record year and discouraging more people than ever from watching illegal material.
Why this matters: It is interesting to note the number of people discouraged or deflected by blocking. Ramping up efforts in this area is a crucial weapon in the anti-piracy arsenal.
