MUMBAI: Pay TV providers may want to skip peeking into the crystal ball.

New research from The Diffusion Group (TDG) finds that younger consumers are less likely than their older counterparts to subscribe to legacy pay-TV services, opting instead for the likes of Netflix or Hulu Plus.

TDG‘s Late Millennials: A Study in Media Behavior surveyed a random sampling of more than 2,000 broadband users between the ages of 18 and 24, half of which were living at home with their parents. Of this latter group, 49 per cent said they were highly inclined to sign up for an online subscription video service once they moved out on their own, compared to 31 per cent that were highly inclined to sign up for a traditional pay-TV service when they set up their own households. This is a difference of 58 per cent.

TDG president and principal analyst Michael Greeson admits these dispositions could change over time if OTT TV services are unable to acquire the content these consumers will want as they marry, have children, and move up the career ladder. “In the end, it will still be less about the conduit and more about the content and value the service provides.”

“While this data can be spun to rationalise a number of arguments, the simplest insight may be the most profound,” noted Greeson. “The very fact that young consumers perceive online video services as somehow more desirable or necessary than incumbent pay-TV services says volumes about the future of video.”