Following record ratings for ESPN’s coverage of the Women’s Basketball Final Four games, Magid has released new data showing a significant growth in interest in women’s basketball. 

The Magid research survey found that the fanbase for women’s college basketball has increased by +50%, growing from 12% in May of 2023 to 18% in March of 2024, just as the 2024 NCAA tournament kicked off, according to the 24th wave of Magid’s AD.VANTAGE research.

The Magid AD.VANTAGE Study identifies key demographic drivers of the notable growth in all sports interest across all categories

An increase in interest like this truly stands out, explained Jaime Spencer, executive vice president of Local Media at Magid, who oversees the research that tracked this change. The demographics of the growing fanbase also hint that this momentum may be more than a pop culture moment in time.

"This isn't just about new fans coming to sports, or more women following sports,” Spencer said. “The core group driving this is already the core sports fan base. So, more seasoned sports fans are adopting these additional sports, which speaks to the potential for the trends to stick." 

The major demographic driver of the growth in Women's College Sports interest came from younger men with children in the home, the study found. 

This group of established sports fans is gravitating to the sport, driving record TV ratings and attention. According to the research, 34% of March 2024 respondents said they were watching the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament this year (higher among Males, Under 45, with Children at Home, with household incomes in excess of $100K), up from 27% last year.

The Magid research also found an even greater jump in attention to Women's Professional Sports, as interest grew from 13% to 21% over the same time span.

"When you factor the growing WNBA figures into this, we see a real trend with staying power, particularly as the number of stars coming up in college continues to grow,” Spencer said. “Caitlin Clark is undoubtedly the face of this Women's Sports growth, but it is bigger than just her. What is really cool is that it appears she may be ushering in a trend that will grow beyond and even outlast her.” 

For more information, visit www.magid.com. 

With streaming services facing alarmingly high rates of consumers subscribing to a product and then churning out of it, Magid has released new data from its SubScape service that indicates those high churn rates hide a more important insight: Not all churn is the same and not all churn is bad. 

The company’s latest product SubScape is designed to offer prescriptive solutions for acquisition and retention in the ongoing streaming wars and is based on newly identified audience segments that reveal key insights about subscriber motivations and solutions for engagement. 

Developed by Magid’s Subscriber Science practice, SubScape defines, collects, and calculates proprietary SVOD (as well as AVOD and FAST) metrics that it says will help explain the “why” of churn and provide users with insights and data to predict outcomes, optimize stability and maximize profits in a highly competitive entertainment ecosystem. 

“The media industry is at an inflection point as savvy consumers are presented with an unending list of viewing options,” Brent Magid, CEO, and Kate Morgan, chief product officer and head of the Global Media, Entertainment and Games practice at Magid said in a joint statement announcing the first results from SubScape. “The battle for the acquisition and retention of churn-centric subscribers isn’t slowing down which is why leveraging SubScape’s granular, solution-based insights have been mission critical for our clients as they reimagine their streaming playbook for long term growth.”

Some of the topline metrics from the service are indeed alarming. The new service found that between January and October 2023, the top 20 streaming services, on average, experienced a subscriber loss of 8%  and a gain of 8% per month, realizing an average net growth of zero in the U.S. 

In addition to the alarming finding that 8% of subs drop a service in any given month, the new data also found that 40% on average said they may cancel or are likely to cancel the individual paid service used by their home in the next year. 

But the researchers stressed that a closer look at SubScape data indicates that not all churn is bad and that some attractive audience segments are predisposed to churn. 

Understanding the various audience segments can provide steamers with a competitive advantage and guide streamers toward increased market share and profitability, the researchers reported. 

More specifically, Magid breaks down the streaming audience into different segments that need to be approached and understood differently. These include: 

• Hypers, a high churn, high income segment that the researchers say is important for streamers looking to drive growth and word of mouth.  Of all the segments, Hypers score the highest on the following areas: 46% agree that “I have FOMO “fear of missing out” about certain shows”; 51% agree: ‘I like to post, like, share on social media about my favorite shows/actors”; when asked about the individual paid services used by their home, 55% of Hypers say they may cancel or are likely to cancel that service in the next year. 
• Another key segment is Loyalists, a high spending low churn segment.  Of all the segments, they are the most open to ads. Among this group 81% agree: “I’m fine watching some ads/commercials, if it saves me money”  
• Digitarians: A high churn segment with equal interest in video on social platforms like YouTube and TikTok, they’re free promotion seekers who do not represent a high ROI on marketing dollars. They are also the mostly likely segment (14%) to be in a free promotional period or borrow an account from another home
• Pragmatics: A smaller segment (just 10% of the population) that is nonetheless a critical revenue-driver for certain services with libraries that map to its emotional needs. In this segment, 70% agree: “I avoid watching ads/commercials as much as possible” (Tied with Hypers for the top score)
• Mainstreamers: A laggard segment, this low churn group is an important component of stability in a mature SVOD, but rarely strays beyond the top five services. Mainstreamers score as the lowest subscriber segment on the following questions: Only 24% agree: “I’m usually the first of my friends to try a new video service”; Only 25% agree: “I have FOMO “fear of missing out” about certain shows”; Only 24% agree: ‘I like to post, like, share on social media about my favorite shows/actors” (lowest subscribing segment); 77% intend to stick with a service for at least a year. 
• Inerts:  The oldest of six segments, with a lower interest in video overall, Inerts present the lowest opportunity to drive revenue. 

 Magid researchers argue that data from those segments indicates that “Not all churn is equal. There is a difference between `bad' churn vs `strategic' churn with the latter  consistent with strong long-term growth. While perceived service weakness may play a role in churn, churn is often fueled by a segment’s inherent volatility and the attitudes/behaviors that subscribers, like Hypers, bring with them, such as a fear of missing out (aka FOMO).  Services that consistently deliver culturally relevant content will attract these transient FOMOs.”

“Some high-churn segments show value in other ways,” Magid also reported. “With new content driving interest, a service’s vibrancy and health is in part measured by its appeal to some high-churn viewers. And one of these high-churn segments, Hypers, carry the most number of services at any given time and are also the best word-of-mouth drivers in a streamer’s customer base.”

The new data also indicated that AVOD is a significant time competitor to SVOD and that income and Churn don’t always go hand in hand. “Although it might seem counter-intuitive, having  less disposable household income isn’t always predictive of churn propensity,” the researchers said. “Hypers, the highest income SubScape segment, also has a high proclivity to churn.” 

This indicates that streamers are often looking at the wrong metrics. “Traditionally, average subscriber tenure and churn rates was an indicator of business health,” the researchers said. “But research suggests the more accurate metric is the number of total subscribed months (whether or not they’re contiguous), which recognizes that some subscribers who leave quickly also come back quickly.”  

More information is available here.

LAS VEGAS—ATSC 3.0, aka NextGen TV, is expected to be rolled out to the top 40 U.S. markets in 2020. The new TV standard will offer a number of new features and technologies that are getting a good many consumers excited for it to become available in their market.

Magid, a consumer-centered business strategy company, conducted a study of consumer interests toward NextGen TV in October 2019 that revealed a “strong appeal for NextGen TV among consumers, particularly early adopters and millennials,” according to Bill Hague, executive vice president, Media Strategy Group, Magid. Specifically, 42% of respondents said they would likely purchase a new TV if it was needed to better enjoy the NextGen TV features.

Some of those features that stuck out to consumers included consistent audio, offering normalized audio levels across programs; 4K HDR video; immersive audio; and multiple audio tracks, which can include specific feeds for sports broadcasts (or none at all), different languages or dialogue options.

Those 42% of consumers whose next TV purchase may be based on NextGen TV are learning what some of their options might be at CES 2020, which has seen LG Electronics, Sony and Samsung reveal new TV models that are NextGen TV-compatible, part of a plan to launch a total of 20 such models in 2020. This has garnered the praise of broadcasters from the Phoenix Model Market, a group focused on the transition to NextGen TV.

“Throughout the year and into 2021, more and more programming will become available in 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range and with immersive audio to provide consumers with an amazing new experience,” said Anne Schelle, Pearl TV managing director, which is coordinating NextGen TV development with the Phoenix Model Market. “This is not an easy or immediate transition. There are myriad of rights issues, collaboration opportunities, channel sharing agreements and many other details that broadcasters are now working hard to execute. The final piece, of course, is the availability of consumer receivers—which is why the announcements this week at CES are so vitally important.”

The Phoenix Model Market, along with Pearl TV, has its own presence at CES 2020, highlighting consumer research findings of their own and an application framework for use by broadcasters and receiver manufacturers at the ATSC booth (11329, Central Hall). Pearl TV’s Schelle is also slated to give a presentation with representatives from ATSC, NAB and two TV manufacturers called “What NextGen TV Means for Tech,” on Jan. 9 at the Venetian Resort (Marcello 4406, Level 4).

For a comprehensive source of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see ourATSC3 silo.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new survey from Pearl TV shows that consumers are most interested in the enhanced picture and audio quality that Next Gen TV (aka ATSC 3.0) will bring to broadcast television.

Pearl TV is a consortium of station groups and manufacturers testing ATSC 3.0 in Phoenix. The Phoenix Model Market is not only testing the technology but also working with industry research firm Magid to analyze consumer interest in the standard, which combines traditional over the air broadcasting with IP. The two have released numerous surveys over the past several years, all pointing to enthusiastic support when consumers learn about the capabilities of ATSC 3.0.

[Read: Magid Survey: Viewers 'Like' ATSC 3.0 Features]

This most recent research was the result of consumer lab testing Magid recently conducted in conjunction with the Phoenix Model Market project partners and the Pearl TV broadcast business group. In lab testing, viewers said that the ATSC 3.0 capabilities could make them start watching broadcast programming (even if they don’t currently do so). Some broadcast viewers also said an ATSC 3.0-enabled device could make them want to watch broadcast TV even more than they currently watch.

“Consumers find most value in the combination of features. The combination of Enhanced Video – 4K video with High Dynamic Range – and Immersive 3D Audio have the broadest appeal,” noted Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle.

“The consumer sentiment that we heard and felt most during the lab testing was excitement about ATSC 3.0 capabilities and a high overall level of interest in engaging with those capabilities and services through their local broadcasters,” said Bill Hague, Executive Vice President, Magid.

Overall, 91 percent of consumers say they are either “interested” or “very interested” in using a service like Next-Gen ATSC 3.0, with enhanced audio features, including immersive 3D and dialogue customization features having the broadest appeal.

80 percent of consumers say they are either “interested” or “very interested” in purchasing an ATSC 3.0 television or add-on device.

Pearl conducted 12 consumer labs and 6 focus groups in late October 2018. Each lab consisted of 7-9 men and women 18-54 who spend at least five hours a week watching television. A total of 95 participated in the labs and 38 in the focus groups. 

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, visit our ATSC3 silo.