The study, conducted annually, has been tracking the shift from traditional (live, DVR and VOD) to streaming. Since 2012, the weekly share of viewing that is streamed has risen from 15% in 2012 to 54% in 2016, while traditional viewing has dropped from 75% to 39% among Millennials.
The study also indicates that Millennials are more likely to turn to Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) when they want to watch TV than to live television: 36% say Netflix is their first "go-to" source for TV content, while 29% say they go to live TV. Although streaming has increased substantially over the past few years, traditional TV continues to have value. Some 76% of 18-34 year-olds use a combination of traditional and streamed content; just 13% use streaming exclusively.
Stephanie Wong, Horowitz's director of marketing and strategy, said: "It's an exciting time to be in the video industry. Established MVPDs like Comcast and new players like Layer3 alike are seeking to improve the value proposition of pay TV and reinvent the traditional TV experience with features like voice control, social media integration, and a more seamless cross-platform viewing experience. Whether these features will be enough to keep Millennials with traditional distributors is the next big question."